Rebirth of the Machine: 1st Draft
by Andehshun
Summary: The year is 26XX, three centuries have passed since the destruction of Sigma and Zero. Almost all reploids have been either destroyed, or shut done. Human utopia is attained. But someone shatters the peace.. Bringing about the age of Reploids once more.
1. Prologue

**The End of a Life And The Resurrection of a New**

No one has ever really known when it happened, it just.. Well.. Happened. Sigma was finally defeated, and it seemed that this time was the final time. X and Axl hurriedly exited Sigma's fortress. You may notice that I left out Zero's name there.. That's true. The self-destruct signals were ringing in their ears as they ran, or as Axl ran, and X was pulled along by his partner. Tears were running down X's cheeks.. The first time he'd ever shown true emotion for his battle comrade, the first time he'd ever shed tears over his death. Zero had done it again.. He'd sacrificed himself again.. But only this time, he wouldn't be coming back, at the time anyways.. Just to keep his friends free from harms way, no.. Not only his friends.. The whole world this time. Doubtful of his own return, Zero made this decision on his own. Both X and Axl knew of the consequences, but neither were able to change his mind.

Zero had to remove himself from the game.. He had to remove himself from the battle.. Remove himself from the war.. From their lives.. From the future.. He had to self-destruct himself to keep Sigma from returning. Zero was the original carrier of a virus, that later inhabited Sigma.. Sigma's systems then converted the virus into the Sigma Virus, a much more deadly version of the Maverick Virus. Zero's systems were the only ones able to combat the virus and neutralize it long enough to destroy it.. And Zero. He forced X and Axl from the room, Axl having to half-drag X out of Sigma's fortress. And Zero did what had to be done.. He did what he knew he would have to do from the beginning. His self-destruct systems activated.. And there was no more Zero, or Sigma, or his fortress.

With the threat of Sigma finally extinguished, the humans realized.. Hey, we don't need the Reploids anymore! .. Reploids were too dangerous, even now. The Maverick virus could still reproduce out of a dormant carrier, and begin the reign of terror again. And start the entire process over again. And there was no Zero to save them this time.. No Zero.. The thought of him gone still brings tears to X's eyes.. Anyways.. The order was shipped out. 'All Maverick Hunters were to be deactivated, immediately.' Dr. Dan Cain, the descendant of Rupert Cain, had no say in this matter, he couldn't do anything to stop them.. The creator of the entire line of Reploids could do nothing but stand by and watch as each and every one was shut down or dismantled.. Or both at times.. It's a shame.. The humans believed, that with Sigma gone, the Reploids were more of a threat than anything else, even themselves, the Reploids **HAD** to be shut down. And so.. They were.. X.. Axl.. And almost the entire force of the Hunters.. They gave up willingly.. They had no reason to be around since Sigma was gone. What reason was there for Maverick Hunters to exist if there were no Mavericks?

And X.. **X! OF ALL PEOPLE!** He **let** this happen.. He **let** them.. And Signas **too**.. Our calm, calibrated leaders.. They let us down. They let those humans.. Deactivate us.. Almost all of us.. But us few, us.. The last remnants of a great race.. We got away.. We went into hiding, we found a way to survive without help.. We were alone.. Ahem.. Anyways.. Back to the story..

As soon as the last Reploid was shut down.. Though I believe the very last Reploid they got a hold of, was destroyed.. Peace reigned over the world. Human utopia was a visible ending, it seemed within their grasp. But.. Utopia is never truly possible. Sure.. It can last for awhile, but it won't truly linger on forever.. It had been a long time since a robot of any kind had been seen, centuries maybe.. The passage of time didn't really matter to us.. But we all believe it was centuries.. But professors, the descendants of the professors from our age, had been at it again. The government had kept the schematics on file, many had even forgotten of their existence there.. But they were there. The schematics of X.. Axl.. Even Zero.. Were on file in the government archives.. But only one man seemed determined to work his ideas and thoughts.. Into a reality.. A reality.. Where us Reploids, could be supreme again.. You'd think from the way I was talking about him, I had him in high-esteem, but no.. Dr. Sebastian, this Roboticist.. He wanted to do the one thing that couldn't be forgiven.. He wanted to bring back Sigma..

Dr. Sebastian, a famed and accomplished man in many fields.. But mostly in his designs and thoughts on many articles within the dying field of Roboticism.. He'd come to a conclusion, and one that would never leave his head, probably not until his dying day.. This would be the one thing he ever wanted.. If people wanted the Reploids back, then Sigma would have to also come back.. And he set to it.. With the help of his assistant, Claude Tage, he set about gathering the schematics of every form of Sigma used during his War. He also collected the schematics of many of the Mavericks under Sigma's rule and control. Sebastian had plans to bring back Sigma.. But not Sigma alone, no.. Never alone.. Sigma would have the entirety of the Repliforce under his thumb.

Dr. Faern, the great-great-grand-son of the fabled Dr. Amadeus Faern, had gotten news of Sebastian's intent through his lab assistant, Enzan Tage.. The brother to Claude. Dr. Faern had decided to be the one to put a stop to this. He gathered as much of the necessary supplies as he could get his hands on; Metool armor, buster plans, beam saber designs, even some of the schematics and basic designs for some of the Robot Masters back during Mega Man's day.. He also got a hold of the original design for Mega Man and Proto Man. If Sebastian was going to bring back the Repliforce and Sigma.. Then Faern would begin the revival of the one group of Reploids capable of being able to put a stop to them for good.. Again.. The Maverick Hunters.

Even with all the necessary supplies, Doctor Christopher Faern was more than a few steps behind Doctor Robert Sebastian.. Sebastian had enough of the simpler Mavericks rebuilt, from Mets and Grenadiers to prototype designs of a few of the Robot Masters. While Faern only had a small force of Mets, and a half-built prototype version of Mega Man. The only thing Faern had successfully built was the Buster Pistol, a plasma pistol he made for the Police Force in case of emergencies.. But for this particular era, the pistol had to be redone.. And the Faern Buster Pistol Mk. II was created.. With the ability to fire different style shots, from a simple plasma shot, to a laser, to a charged shot.

This story.. No.. Our story begins now.. With Dr. Faern sending Enzan, the young assistant, to the ruins of the Maverick Hunter HQ.. Our once magnificent base now in ruins on the outside of the city. The Government archives never stated, in any of their files, that the Hunters had been dismantled.. Only that they had been shut down. So, if Faern was correct in his theory, the Hunters were still inside the HQ. Though the place was in shambles.. Though it never really wasn't.. Not even Signas could keep this place organized, hehe.. There might be a slight chance that they, we, had survived the years. Enzan's job.. His mission.. Was to find them, or us, and bring us back to Faern's lab.. And be fixed.. What Enzan found there isn't what anyone had ever expected.. But.. This is how it starts..


	2. Chapter 01

**Chapter 1 - Reploid Regeneration**

"It seems that the robotic age is coming around again, Dr. Faern."

"Yes, I realize this. Dr. Sebastian is making a grave mistake by rebuilding the Repliforce."

"Why is that, sir?"

"The Repliforce was a massive army, consisting of thousands upon thousands of Reploids. And Dr. Sebastian knows nothing about the usage of the Stasis Pods that Dr. Light invented for X, and the same pods that Dr. Cain forgot to use. The same situation will occur, only this time, the human race will be overwhelmed."

"Should I send messenger to Sebastian and explain the dire situation?"

"No, I have a much better idea."

"What is that, professor?"

"I want you to go to the ruin site, and retrieve all the data you can from every running computer there."

"B-but sir.. I don't like that place. Why can't you send someone more reliable, like my brother?"

"No, you have to take care of this Enzan. I can only trust you with this."

"I'll.. I'll try and do my best, sir."

"I know you will. We can waste no time talking about this, we must act before Dr. Sebastian begins the reconstruction of the Repliforce army. Let us go to the lab, while you're out, I might as well have you try out the new pistol prototype I developed."

"Dr. Sebastian! Dr. Sebastian!"

"What is it, Claude?"

"Dr. Faern knows of what we're doing and has sent his assistant, my brother, out to retrieve the data from the ruins of the Maverick Hunter base."

"Then you know what to do, Claude."

"Yes, sir. I'll get right on that. Do you want me to take any robots with me, or should I go it alone?"

"You already know the answer to that."

"Yes, sir, of course."

"Prove to me that my decision of picking you over your brother was a good one. Let this sibling rivalry end now."

"Of course, sir."

A young man stepped softly across the metal plating of the destroyed base, his dark blue eyes taking in all the destruction. He reached his arm around behind his back to the bag looped over his shoulders, pulling out a small console, as well as a pistol of some sort. He pushed his dark brown locks from out of his eyes, jumping on to the next shattered metal surface, his footing holding on the shifting metal block.

"This place creeps me out, so much.."

"Poor kid."

"The hell!?"

The sound of feet from behind him, forced Enzan to spin around on his heel, the pistol at the ready before him. Ahead of him was Claude, his brother and fellow scientist-apprentice, as well as two robotic followers behind him. Claude was slightly taller than Enzan, always had been, and unlike Enzan, Claude had dirty blonde locks and sharp green eyes. Enzan aimed the gun carefully and let lose a single shot, the blistering heat from the laser slicing across the top of Claude's ear and implanting straight into the robot at his right's forehead, incinerating the robot's systems, the unusual pair of scissors atop this robot's head quivering slightly, before breaking free and clanging loudly against the metal plate beneath their feet. The robot then tumbled over backward, crashing into a shifted piece of earth, exploding seconds afterward.

"Dammit Enzan!"

"What do you want, Claude?"

"We're here to stop you from getting the data. And I know you won't kill me, you know that too."

"How can you be so sure? I just shot your robot **and** you with one beam."

"You're an idiot, Enzan. We both know that those pistols only have five shots, and you'll waste them all before you ever get another shot on me."

"Or I could just shoot you now!"

"Then, younger brother, you wouldn't have enough to take out my other robot companion. His armor can take three of those shots, before his armor becomes brittle enough to break. That's four shots in total.. And that's all you have."

"Dammit.."

Claude's lips curved into a small smile, those sharp green eyes gazing upon his younger brother. Claude shook his dirty blonde locks from his eyes, setting his hand lightly upon the shoulder of the robot standing next to him. He tapped the metal plating with his fingertips, smirking over at his brother. Enzan's finger slid over the trigger of the pistol, a low humming came from the inner-workings of the gun.

"Go ahead and try it, brother. See how long you last against this monster."

"Was that long enough?"

Enzan's pistol erupted with a massive energy stream, the built up energy colliding with the robot's chest plate, ripping the metallic surface apart, crumpling the entire robot with one shot. Smoke coiled up away from the broken robot's entire form, Claude staring silently at the second robot's destruction, though it was still standing, more than we can say for the other one.

"Dr. Faern isn't as stupid as you think he is, Claude."

"Damn you, Enzan! I'll be back, and when I do, you won't win!"

"Bring as many robots as you want, this baby has enough power to take them all!"

Claude jumped from plate to plate as fast as he could, growling angrily at his failure. Enzan smiled lightly at his brother's retreating form. He spun the pistol about on his finger and placed it back into its holster, strapping it to his side. He turned back to what he was doing before the interruption. He curled the back off of his left shoulder, swinging it around in front of him with his shoulder. He set it down in front of him, unzipping the dark yellow bag. He pulled forth a laptop and flicked it open, watching it start up almost immediately. He tapped lightly on the keyboard and began to type quickly with one hand, activating all the coding needed for data transfer.

"I hope this works.."

He pulled a cord from the back of the laptop, and stepped forward a few steps. He set his hand against the cold steel wall and searched for a few seconds. He found the outcrop and pushed the panel inward, a small slot opening up on the wall a feet inches down. He plugged his laptop into it, connecting their systems. He dropped down on to the ground, his back against the wall. His fingers became a blur as they tapped quickly along the keyboard, each stroke calling upon another code, another hack, another deletion of the security system around the ruins. He wiped his forehead with the back of his forearm, after destroying the third firewall.

'_People need to stop putting up so much security!'_

He sighed, breathing for a moment. He looked down at the screen and went back to the destruction of the security system. He stopped typing after deleting the fifth firewall, staring at what looked like an open cyberspace on his laptop. He perked a brow and lightly tapped the screen, calling up an anti-virus system. He began scanning the cyberspace, locating multiple viruses in a matter of seconds.

"Maybe I should save this for Dr. Faern.. But if I do that, my entire laptop could go haywire. Err.. I'll just call him.. Hope he's not working on something important.."

He reached with his legs, curling his feet about the base of his bag, pulling it close enough for him to grab a hold of it. He set the light grey laptop down into his lap, pulling the bag to his side. He reached in and grabbed his cell phone, flipping open the top. He brought the piece to his ear and spoke, "Faern", straight into the mouthpiece, the phone auto-dialing the number desired.

"This is Dr. Faern."

"Sir. I've discovered something while trying to get to the data you wanted. It's a tiny cyberspace inside the security system of the base. The only thing is, it's entirely over-run with viruses. And powerful ones at that. I don't know if you want me to cleanse it, or delete it completely from the system and my laptop."

"Save the c-space to a disk, I'll scan it when you get back. We need your laptop for the data."

"I understand, sir."

He flipped closed his cell phone and dropped it back into his bag. He sighed a little and pulled out a mini-disk from his pocket, inserting it into the drive. He began transferring the c-space to the drive as quickly as possible. His fingers began to hurt after awhile, so he set the computer to auto-transfer, watching as the computer did the same scans and runs that he manually did, only a little slower. After it was completely transferred on to the disk, he popped it out and tossed it into a case, dropping it into his bag. He cracked the security code in a matter of seconds, the fifth wall and 'virus c-space' being the last line of defense. He tilted his head back, watching the massive steel doors slowly slide open.

"Wow.."

"Dr. Sebastian!"

"What is it, Claude? Why are you back already?"

"Enzan destroyed both robots, each with a single shot from a Buster Pistol."

"Dr. Faern's own design, is my guess. Charge shot on Prototype Guts?"

"I believe so sir, it completely melted through his armor. Prototype Cut was taken with a shot to the forehead, completely fried all of his programming."

"I see. Your brother is quite a nuisance at times, Claude. Eliminate him."

"What.. ?"

"Eliminate your brother. The quicker he is out of the way, the quicker the Repliforce will be rebuilt."

"But, he's my own brother. I can't just, **KILL** him."

"No? No.. Ah, but you will. His death will be by your hands, none of my robots will do that for you. Now go back to the ruins, and take Prototype Quick and Burn with you."

"Y-yes, sir."

"Wow.."

Enzan stepped past the massive doorway of the ruined Maverick Hunter base, his eyes adjusting slowly to the dim light as he activated his flashlight. He pushed his hair from his face and glanced around silently, his jaw slightly dropped from actually being inside the Mav-Hunter HQ. Everything he knew about this place, he learned from Dr. Faern and from the history books at school. He drew the beam of light from the small cylinder over the ceiling, letting it slowly slide down the spherical walls and on to the floor. He gasped lightly as he lit up multiple crumpled forms upon the floor, all covered in dust. He set his foot against a nearby body and pushed softly, the body creaking as it fell on to its back, erupting a fume of dust upward, forcing Enzan to cover his mouth as he coughed.

"So it was true.. The Hunters let themselves be de-activated," he glanced at each form in turn, looking for a few specific ones.

"But why would they give up so easily? Not even Faern would answer me that," he said with a sigh, pushing another reploid on to its back.

"It's because.. We had no reason to fight anymore."

"Wha-"

Enzan's flashlight flickered out, leaving him in the darkness, alone with the voice that lingered throughout the room. Enzan spun around quickly, looking for the source of the voice. He stopped dead in his tracks as he saw where the voice was coming from, a pair of disembodied blue eyes were hovering off to his left.


	3. Chapter 02

**Chapter 2 - Enter, Renegades**

"Who.. Who are you?" Enzan asked softly, backing away from the azure orbs.

"Fidget, hit the lights," the voice said, talking to someone named 'Fidget' in the room behind him.

"You got it, AX," came the voice of this so-called 'Fidget.'

Enzan dropped the flashlight and covered his eyes as the lights split through the darkness, revealing the entire infrastructure. Enzan slowly lifted his hands away from his eyes, staring around the room, his jaw dropping slightly as he spun around slowly, staring at everything in the room.

"Oh my.."

"What are you doing here, kid?"

Enzan spun around to where the blue eyes were earlier, but in their place was a fully functional robot, which stopped Enzan dead in his tracks. He just stared at the tall robot, whose silver metallic shine glinted within the bright fluorescent lights. A trio of silver spikes lined his helmet, which was dark blue wherever there wasn't a spike. Enzan noted that the body structure was similar to Zero, the legendary Red Maverick Hunter. This reploid also had a gleaming soft blue chest gem, the same color as his knee guards and boot gems. The underbody suit was pure black, accentuating the lighter colors of his armor.

"Who are you?" Enzan suddenly asked, his voice finally working, the reploid sighed lightly.

"I asked you first, but my name is Alpha-X, but you can have the rare privilege of calling me AX," AX introduced himself in a patient voice, "Now, who are you?"

"Oh, heh.. My name is Enzan Tage," he lifted the corners of his lips into a smile for a moment, before continuing, "Who was this.. 'Fidget' person you were talking to?"

"Fidg-" AX began.

"I'm Fidget," came a soft voice from behind AX.

From behind Alpha-X stepped a slightly smaller reploid. This one was brown in color, with an elongated helmet. His body suit was lighter than AX's, only a dark grey. His chest had three lighter tan panels jutting outward in a slight 'V' shape in the center. His boot gems were a shimmering green color, the same colored gems accentuating the sensory-units over his ears.

"Are you two.. Umm.. Are you Reploids?" Enzan asked, crouching down to pick up his dropped flashlight.

"We're Maverick Hunters, so yes. We're Reploids. Based off the design of X and built to be a free wi-" Fidget's voice was racing as he spoke, AX's hand clamping down over his mouth.

"Yes, we're Reploids. What are you doing here?" Alpha-X asked, his hand clamping tighter over Fidget's still moving lips.

"I came here looking for Reploid schematics. A scientist is rebuilding Mavericks of the past, as well as Sig-" Enzan began, before AX cut him off, "The Mavericks are coming back!"

"Umm.. Yes," Enzan said lightly, slightly taken aback by the Hunter's tone.

"Dammit. Fidget, go tell 32 that we've got to get assembled. And tell that lazy bastard to get X and Axl online. If this scientist is bringing back ALL the Mavericks that have been destroyed, we're going to need the one who has been here from the beginning, my brother."

"Got it."

Fidget turned tail and ran into the room that they were standing in the doorway to. Enzan took a step forward and tried to get a glimpse into the room, but AX positioned himself more in front of the door. He crossed his arms, his blue eyes slitting slightly.

"Go back and tell whoever sent you, that this is being taken care of. We don't need any help from you humans," AX's voice lowered into a menacing tone.

"But!"

"Get out, human! You're the reason we're like this in the first place!" AX turned and walked into the room, his hand slamming into the wall, a door sliding closed where he was standing.

"AX! Dammit. I didn't have anything to do with that," Enzan sighed, failing the mission he was sent to do. He dropped down on to the ground and pulled his bag from his shoulder, digging for his cell phone, flicking it open.

"Faern."

"This is Dr. Faern."

"Doctor, the remaining hunters here-"

"What remaining hunters, Enzan?"

"They said their names were.. Alpha-X, Fidget, and another named 32."

"The Renegades! Those are Mavericks! Get out of there now, Enzan. They are potentially dangerous," Dr. Faern's voice was strewn with worry and concern.

"No, sir, they were very nice. And they said they were reviving X and Axl. They said it was all taken care of, so we didn't have to hel-**AHH!**"Enzan's phone clicked off as he let rip a scream into the mouthpiece

"Enzan? Enzan? **ENZAN?**"

Dr. Faern set the cell phone down and glanced around the lab, thinking quickly about what he could possibly do. He sighed lightly and fell into his cushioned lab chair, setting his palms to his temples. His soft brown eyes blood shot from the lack of sleep for the past few days, the constant reading and re-reading of old robot schematics taking their toll on him.

"Please be safe, Enzan.. I don't have anything I can get to you in time to help you. The only thing I have are Mets, and they walk too slow. They wouldn't get there fast enough. He was right.. Sending him was a bad idea."


	4. Chapter 03

**Chapter 3 - Maverick Pushovers**

Alpha-X stopped dead in his tracks, the silence being shattered by a muffled scream from the opposite side of the door. He called out after Fidget's form, "Fidget, get back here, forget 32 for now!" He heard the stuttering clanking of slowing feet. Fidget came running back, staring up at AX.

"What's wrong?"

AX pushed the button to open the door, sighing a little, "The kid's in trouble. I just heard him scream."

Enzan struggled against the robotic arms gripping his shoulders, his screams for help falling on deaf ears. He struggled a little harder, only causing the gray robot attached to his shoulders to grip tighter, almost piercing through the flesh.

"**ARGH! LET GO OF ME!**"

Tears began welling up in Enzan's eyes as he grit his teeth in pain. He tried to go somewhere else, where this wasn't happening. That he was free from the grip of robotic arms. And then suddenly he was, he felt the pain from his shoulders dissipate, and he opened his eyes, watching sparks shower from the robot's neck, where the head used to be. He glanced toward the door, Fidget standing there, both pistols aimed.

"Get up, kid!" AX yelled, dashing forward, boosters shooting from the bottom of his boots, a massive light blue saber ignited in his right hand.

Enzan twisted quickly, jerking his right leg free from the second robot. He sent his shoe straight into the robot's face, denting it and shattering the sensors. He pulled away and crawled toward Fidget, AX's saber slicing downward through the robot, both exploding simultaneously on either side of him.

"AX, more are coming!" Fidget shouted, pointing toward the door.

"I see them! Get the kid out of here, I'll hold them off here!" AX yelled back, before activating his thrusters and sliding toward the massive archway of the entrance.

"Come'ere human!" Fidget's hands dropped on to Enzan's shoulders, pulling him through the door, and partially throwing him across the room, "Get down those stairs, ask for someone named 32. When you find him, tell him we've got trouble. Got it!"

"Yes, Fidget, I got it," came Enzan's stuttering reply as he climbed to his feet.

"Now go!" Fidget ran back out through the door, activating the doorway as he passed the control panel, forcing it to slide closed, locking both him and AX in with the invaders.

Enzan stared after the brown reploid, turning and running down the stairs, the lights flickering slightly from the explosions from above. He came to a stop in front of a hallway full of doors, "Gah.. Which one?"

Fidget leaped over a charging robot, igniting his spear and slamming it downward into the robot's spine, splintering it into the floor. He wrenched the blade free and spun it above his head, smirking a little as it exploded.

"The kid's getting help, AX!"

"Good, good! Get your ass over here and help! **NOW!**"

AX wove through two beam staves, igniting the back end of his glittering light azure saber, swinging the blade quickly through the two robots, cleaving them in half, their explosions sending smoke across AX's vision. Fidget slammed his spear down into the floorboards, drawing forth his pistols, letting fly volleys of blasts, the robots within the smoke being littered with blast holes, explosions rocketing AX's stance slightly.

"Dammit, Fidget. Watch where you're shooting, you're going to scratch my paint!"

"Don't be so vain, AX. You know I'm a better shot than that."

Fidget lifted his left hand to side of his helmet, tapping the green gem there. A small mask slid down over his visage, a green visor activating, his vision clearing immediately, letting him see through the smoke.

"Niner!"

Alpha-X spun to his left, his beam saber slicing clear through a massive robot, the explosion sending him flying through the smoke and into one of the walls. The wall began crumbling in upon him as he pulled himself free from the debris. A beam of energy came down through the ceiling, ripping apart the bots standing in that particular area.

"Need some help?"

"Anode!"

A silver and black Reploid shot down through the ceiling, landing on the outer edge of the crater in the floor. He lifted his left arm straight out away from his body, aimed at the entrance to the base, his right arm set at his side, his fist tight. AX leaped from the hole in the wall and landed beside Fidget, both of them watching Anode's actions. A light gleam focused at the end of his buster, before activating, a light sweeping forward from the tip of it, a massive blast ripping through the base front, eradicating the last remnant of the attacking robots.

Enzan stared silently at the screen, watching this new Hunter; Anode, wipe out the entire attacking force with a single shot from his buster. He stepped away from the console, falling into a chair set directly behind him.

"That's amazing.."

"As it should be. Anode is one of the best we have."


	5. Chapter 04

**Chapter 4 - A Joint Operation?**

"But even though Anode is one of the best, he wouldn't be anything at all if we didn't work as a team. Each of us have our strengths and weaknesses, and the rest of the team helps to keep the weaknesses from ever overpowering the strengths."

"I see.. So.. _32_, how is the restoration of X and Axl coming along?" Enzan asked, spinning around in the soft chair he had landed upon.

"I see you as a threat, kid, so I don't feel comfortable telling you about my scientific ventures," came the straightforward response from the dark blue Reploid, his back turned away from Enzan, he turned his head slightly, the shades shimmering lightly in the underground lighting, "But since you're an assistant to a scientist, I'm sure whetting your scientific appetite wouldn't hurt."

Enzan smiled slightly, setting his hands on either side of the chair and pushing himself to his feet. His feet making light thudding noises against the titanium flooring, while 32's feet made a slight metal-clinking noise with each step. 32 lead Enzan through a nearby doorway into a sparsely lit containment area, the only light coming from twin pods, both of which glowed with a soft green lighting. The inner bulbs spraying their light through the green liquid filling the tube, sending the jade rays across the walls as well as the two occupants of the room. Within one of the tubes was a fully constructed reploid of historic design; X, and in the other was the renegade Red Alert member turned Maverick Hunter; Axl.

"Since the dawn of the Reploid age, X has been there. But what no one has ever known was that X had been rebuilt after every Sigma encounter. No one wanted to take the chance of X going Maverick, we needed him, he was a necessity to the Maverick Hunter cause. So, after every battle with Sigma, they scrapped X's body, building him a newer model to compensate for the stronger threats. X's memory was transferred from one body to the next. His programming was thoroughly scanned with each transfer. X hasn't been rebuilt as many times as most reploids. His rebuild count, I believe, is on par with Zero's. I might be wrong, of course. It's been a very long time."

"The model you see before you is the version one model of X, the one first designed and constructed by Dr. Light all those many years ago. Since it was the first, I figured that it would be the easiest to reconstruct from scrap."

"I thought they only shut down X at the end of the wars. Did they dismantle him?"

"No, nothing like that. X's current body at the time was placed into a stasis pod, where it still is at this current time. No one knows exactly where that stasis pod is, which is why we have decided to start from the beginning and let him regain all the combat experience he had back then. By slowly advancing through the versions, I just hope I can build each version before he goes and blows them up. The only good thing is that I've had time to go over the initial schematics of each model design and re-calibrate the flaws that were done back then."

"Dr. Light had flaws in his design for X?"

"Sorry to break up the party, but I really don't think the kid needs to know everything that you do, 32. No offense or anything, but what can a weakling human do to destroy Mavericks?" Came AX's voice from the doorway, his body leaning against the frame.

"All he's done so far is force us into running back to save him!" Fidget's voice perked up from the other room, his brown body bobbing up and down behind AX's, trying to see into the reconstruction chamber.

32 sighed softly and set his heavy hand upon Enzan's shoulder at a surprisingly light force, turning him toward the doorway and AX, who stepped out of the way. Enzan walked out of the room, following closely by 32, who tapped the keypad beside the door, the metallic panel sliding closed with a soft swish. Fidget stood beside AX, who was leaning against the door as 32 pushed Enzan down into the same chair he was in prior to the escapade into the other room.

"Tell us why you're here. The quicker we find out, the quicker we can get rid of you." Enzan turned his head to the new voice, seeing Anode's form leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Well.. My employer, Dr. Faern, sent me here to get the schematics for the hunters that were shut down at the end of the Sigma Wars. He-"

"But why? You told us this upstairs.. Why does he want them?" Alpha-X asked loudly, gripping the side of the computer panel tightly within his grasp.

"Another doctor, by the name of Sebastian, is trying to rebuild the entirety of the Repliforce and all the Mavericks that have been destroyed from day one of the Sigma Wars. Dr. Faern wanted the designs so that he could rebuild the Hunters and have them counter his forces!" Enzan said desperately, spreading his arms wide.

"I see.." 32 said thoughtfully, his hand settling lightly on the tip of his chin.

"Faern needs the designs.. We need more Hunters.. It's pretty much a win-win situation," Anode said, closing his eyes beneath his helmet.

"So.. Can you help us? If I can get the designs to Faern, he can help restore the Hunters. Which will help you all fight the Mavericks and Sigma, meaning we could work together!"

"I still don't trust him," Alpha-X let go of the computer panel and walked out of the room, leaving the four alone.

Fidget watched his friend walk out of the room, setting his hand lightly against the side of his head, letting his eyes close shut. He sighed softly and walked out of the room as well, leaving Anode and 32 with Enzan. 32 watched the two of them leaving, stroking his chin slightly.

"Why doesn't he trust me?" Enzan asked slightly, turning his gaze to the floor.

"Alpha-X never was one for trusting humans. When the Hunters were called in for shut down, he refused, straight to X's face. He wouldn't go down like that.. He wanted honor for his services," Anode spoke up from his position on the wall.

Fidget ran to catch up with AX at the end of the long hallway. He set his hand on his friend's shoulder, both of them stopping. Fidget glanced up at his friend, who sighed lightly.

"If we want to combat the Mavs, we need to cooperate with the kid, AX."

"I know, I know.. But I can't bring myself to trust the humans just yet. After everything we went through to help their race from being killed off by the Mavericks and Sigma.. We get shut down! What kind of repayment is that! We saved them.. Over and over.. And all we got was the boot," AX grit his teeth together, shrugging Fidget's hand from his shoulder.

"AX, let the past go! We're in deep shit now. This isn't something we've ever had to deal with before. Sure, we've killed lots of Mavericks, but we didn't take on the Repliforce, Sigma, and all the Mavericks ever built. Help is going to be hard to find. This is something we need. The kid and this Dr. Faern character are going to be great assets to our cau-" Fidget's voice cut off as both of their comm's crackled to life, a feminine voice coming in over the radio, "Anyone! God dammit! Someone better answer this damn comm-line before I slice their ass apart with my axe!"

"Who is this?" AX asked, setting his hand lightly against the right side of his head, tapping the sensory unit.

"This is Lizzy!" The voice crackled back, sounds of gunfire and explosions in the background.

"What's the situation? And where the hell have you been?" Fidget asked, his right hand set to the side of his head.

"My location is A66-F93, lots of gunfire an-Oh.. **SHIT!**" An exceptionally large explosion roared in from the background and the radio cut out. Fidget's hand fell away from the his sensory unit, his eyes wide as he stared up at AX, who swallowed heavily, looking back at Fidget.

"Oh man.." Was all AX could get out.


	6. Chapter 05

**Chapter 5 - Rescuing the Recon**

Alpha-X turned to see Anode rush from 32's lab, rushing up the stairs quickly, leaping multiple steps at a time. Fidget sent his hand into AX's shoulder, turning and bolting after Anode at a quick pace, leaping up the stairs. AX ran after them, stopping in front of 32's lab as he came from the room. 32 set his hand lightly upon his shoulder.

"I know you don't trust him, but I want you to take the kid back to where he came from. The journey shouldn't be too rough, seeing as how Lizzy and her recon unit are under heavy fire. That's probably where all the enemies are sure to be right now. Just make sure to keep the kid safe."

AX nodded sharply, running past and up the stairs, Enzan came running out of the room after him. 32's hand stopped him, a small disk sliding forth from his gauntlet. He handed it over to Enzan, who looked to the reploid and then nodded lightly. 32 gave a small smile and pushed the kid forward, sending Enzan stumbling from the force. Enzan went bounding up the stairs, letting 32 return to his lab.

He dropped down into his large cushion chair, pulling himself in under his computer, tapping lightly on the keys, schematics for first version of X appearing on the screen. Off to his right, the sound of sneakers rubbing against the floor was coming from the room with the stasis tanks, was heard to none but 32.

A female Reploid with dark green armor plating, with a light silver jumpsuit underneath, lay crumpled upon the ground. She had blood-like ruby hair, which lay about the base of her neck and eyes of a hardened brown. Her face was adorned with a twin pair of red stripes, each placed vertically upon her cheeks, going from the base of her eye and down to her jaw. Her small mouth was slightly agape, with fluids slowly trickling forth from it on to the ground. The other two members of her unit, Panic and Piro, should have easily survived that last explosion. Lizzy pushed herself off of her stomach and sat down, lifting her hand and wiped the fluids from her lip. She shook her head lightly, glancing around. She got to her feet, setting her hands on either side of her mouth making a funnel-shape and then called out loudly, "Piro? Panic? You two still alive?"

A golden Reploid off to Lizzy's left, lay upon the ground, multiple cracks in his shiny armor, and a helmet with slanted spikes inclining off the back. The eye-covers of his helmet, as well as his wrist guards, glittered a soft azure color in the slightly dim light. Beneath the golden armor was a dark grey jumpsuit, and in the center of the golden armor was a shiny metal plating to cover over a special system designed especially for him, and him alone. Panic winced slightly, pushing himself into a crouch. He groaned in pain, the armor on his right leg cracked, leaking fluids out on to the ground. He regained his composure in time to leap into the air, the second of the two D-1000 robots slamming into the ground where he just was. He landed on its back, whipping out his beam saber, snarling loudly, "I'm here, Lizzy! I'm taking this robot do-**OOF**!" Panic went flying off the back of the second D-1000, the first one slamming its clamp into his back.

The final member of the unit, a Reploid with a dark red jumpsuit, surrounded by a slightly dark grey armor. This reploid had no helmet, like Lizzy, but his hair was a shimmering black. His armor was slotted with green gems on the tops of his knees, the center of his chest, and his wrist guards were also green. Around the center gem was a golden casing to protect it. Piro leapt upward, morphing his hand into a sledge hammer, slamming it forward into the face of the D-1000 that Panic was just on top of. The robot tipped slightly, digging into the ground, a massive indent in its face. Piro morphed his hand back, sliding into a battle-ready stance, leaping backward as the other D-1000 came down to hit him. He landed and opened fire with his buster, running backward as he fired. He stopped and smirked a little, "Yeah, Lizzy, I'm alive."

Lizzy withdrew a long cylinder and spun it quickly over her head before tossing it into the air like a baton. She spun around and caught it behind her, igniting the twin axe-heads, turning her head to stare at the twin robots, an evil grin on her face. Multiple parts of her dark green armor were cracked, but the fluid had stopped leaking from her mouth. She leapt into the air, bringing the axe up quickly, drawing the blade skillfully through the face of the robot that had slammed into Panic, sparks exploding as Lizzy landed. She dashed forward, deactivating the twin-axe, dirt kicking up from the burner on her boots. She came to a stop next to Panic, who pushed himself to his feet, morphing his hand into his buster. He leapt up on to Lizzy's shoulders, leaping higher into the air with her help, the gears within his buster activating, rounds spitting from the mouth of the gun, round after round imbedding into the robot's hide, tearing through its armor. Piro flipped across the ground, the D-1000 unoccupied by Panic and Lizzy attacking him. He spun around and leaped backward, his buster releasing multiple shots into the face of the massive robot. Piro landed beside Lizzy, who greeted the reploid with a face-full of plasma, firing point-blank into its face.

Alpha-X's feet padded along ahead of Enzan's, making a loud, metallic, clink with each and every step. Enzan ran as quick as he could behind him, keeping up as well as any human could when following a reploid. Enzan suddenly stopped, leaning against a wall, breathing heavily, his chest contracting and restricting quickly. AX stopped a few feet ahead of him, his hand reaching up to the side of his head, his fingers lighting tapping the sensory unit, opening a channel to Fidget and Anode.

"Anode, have you arrived at Lizzy's location yet?" His voice was tinged with concern.

"No, AX. We're not quite there yet." Anode responded almost immediately, with Fidget's response quickly following, "I can hear the sounds of battle, AX!"

"Just make sure you two get there in time to help them if they need it, got it?" AX asked, both of them replying simultaneously, "Of course, AX."

Enzan lifted his head from its position on the wall, staring up at the tall reploid. AX turned his head and glanced back at the kid. He turned around and walked over to him, speaking lightly, "I know you don't have the endurance of a Reploid, but we can't rest any longer. We have to get moving, and now." Enzan nodded lightly and pushed away from the wall, running ahead of AX, who shook his head and followed after him quickly.

32 tapped away a little quicker on the keyboard at the monitor before him, the soft breathing of a human coming from the side of the room, under shadow. The schematics of X were spinning around on the screen, he pushed off and slid to the left stopping before the next monitor, touching a few keys lightly, nodding in satisfaction, "Axl, you're going to be finished ahead of schedule. A few more days and you'll be done."

He kicked off and slid back in front of the monitor with X's rotating designs, "But you, X, you're going to be.. At least a week, maybe more. I just can't seem to get a few fixed flaws in your designs to correspond with your systems. Maybe I should reverse the corrections.. Light probably had the same problem."

Enzan came to a halt in front of Dr. Faern's laboratory building, falling against the big metal doors. AX stopped beside him, lifting his hand and rasping it against the door loudly. The sound of banging metal and the cursing of a slightly older man vibrating off the walls. The metal doors drew apart, revealing Faern standing in the doorway, "Enzan, you're ali-" Faern's voice caught in his voice as he noticed AX's stature beside Enzan's. A slight smirk crept across AX's lips as he stepped past the exhausted Enzan and the flabbergasted Faern and into the half-wrecked lab. AX stepped over a few dozen Mets running about the floor. Enzan forced himself to enter into the lab, tipping his book bag from his shoulder and on to a table. He pulled his laptop from the bag and set it down, setting the disk he received from 32 on top of it, which caught AX's attention, "What is that?"

Enzan tried to catch his breath before responding. "32.. Gave it to.. Me.. As we.. Left.." AX stared at it for a moment and then nodded, shrugging off his thoughts. Faern perked a brow at the sudden change of Enzan's voice, it being much lower than it usual was. He shook his head, taking the disk up into his hand and heading over to the main computer, leaving the laptop for later.

Anode's boosters activated, sending him thrashing across the landscape, Fidget running along behind him, yelled after him, "Watch the dust, dammit! My optics aren't meant for your afterburner, you ass!" Anode only laughed and sped along ahead, morphing his hand into a buster, setting it out ahead of him. He fired off a rapid fire volley of plasma into a row of grenadiers ready to let loose a dozen grenades. Fidget leaped into the air, activating his beam spear and dropped down upon the center reploid, cutting through two of the other bots. He dashed aside as Anode dashed past, strafing the reploid row, cutting down the last few of the attackers.

"Fidget, activate your visor and check the situation down there." Anode ordered, pointing off to the side of the building. Fidget deactivated his beam spear and crouched at the building's edge, staring down, his visor sliding down over his face.

Lizzy leapt backward, followed closely by Panic. Piro dashed to the side, morphing his hand back into a sledge-hammer. He jumped upward, kicking off the side of a building, landing on the back of the face-dented D-1000, slamming the sledge-hammer down into it's motor, forcing it to combust and explode right in front of him. Panic came sliding across the ground, his saber withdrawn. He came to a stop, and made a clean slice along the bottom of the massive Reploid, massive explosions erupting along the bottom. Panic dashed forward, with Piro diving off the top, as Lizzy came rushing in, leaping over the Reploid, landing lightly on the top and leaping once more. She came down with a crash upon the second D-1000, bringing the axe down and cutting straight through the back of it's massive body. Panic let loose a volley of shots from his gatling buster, the hot plasma coating the bottom of its form.

"Piro, get out of here! The front-lines is no place for snipers!" Panic's voice roared over the massive explosion of the crippled first D-1000, sending dust flying across the battlefield. Piro sustained the explosion, morphing the sledge-hammer into a buster, and aiming, "Not a damn chance, Panic."

Lizzy leapt from atop the D-1000, two Reploids from above landing on its backside. A brown reploid with a beam spear activated landed with a thud, cutting downward through the metal plating before leaping from its back seconds after Lizzy. The second Reploid hovered above it, its silver plating shimmering in the sun. This particular Reploid aimed its buster carefully, before firing a massive shot of energy straight through it, the entire blast enveloping the body of the Reploid, melting through the armor and cutting into the circuits and programs, the robot imploding from the inside out. Lizzy and her group, as well as Fidget, lost sight of Anode after the explosion. As the smoke cleared, Anode landed a few feet away from them, smirking slightly.

"Hey, Lizzy. Did you miss us?"


	7. Chapter 06

**Chapter 6 - The Shifty Falsehood**

Enzan leaned against the wall beside Faern's main computer, watching the good doctor's fingers cruise over the keyboard at a rather quick pace. His lips turned into a smirk as he turned his gaze toward the solitary Reploid crouching amongst the group of a dozen Mets. AX began laughing lightly as the Mets wrestled with one another. Dr. Faern's eyes never left the screen, scanning through the multiple schematics of Reploid designs. He set his hands on either side of the keyboard, leaning back into his chair.

"Well.. This.. 32 character certainly knows his stuff."

"He **IS** a Reploid Scientist.."

"AX.. Please don't get pissy." AX just scoffed, prodding a flipped over Met.

Enzan let his eyes come to a close, their dark blue hues fading away, like they were melting, into a deepened black hue. Faern caught this change before Enzan's eyes came to a complete close, his body relaxing against the steel wall.

Panic lifted his hand from his side, and tipped his helmet slightly, pulling it from atop his head, letting his slightly metallic blue locks fall about his face. He tucked the helmet beneath his arm, smiling slightly at the two 'heroes.' Piro crossed his arms, standing to the left of Panic, a small smirk upon his lips. Lizzy stood before the two of them, saluting to both Fidget and Anode, who returned the formality. The second their hands went down, Fidget practically leaped, like a leopard upon its prey, at Lizzy, grappling her into a tight hug. "**AHH**!" Lizzy tried to push him off, struggling to break his hold, or his hands, and get free. After awhile, she gave up, having no success at all. Fidget finally broke his hold and leapt back to stand beside Anode, who undid the locks of his helmet and lifted it off, notching it into the crook of his arms. His black locks falling across his face, shimmering strips of blue illuminating along the slight spikes..

"Sorry it took so long, Lizzy." Came Anode's calm voice as he pushed the black locks out of his eyes.

"Humph. I know you can go faster than that, Anode. You were just dicking around," Growled Lizzy, her arms crossing over her chest.

"We were in a conference with 32. An intruder was on the premise and AX and I had to take care of him, but in the end, we had to save his ass," Piped in Fidget, perking Panic's interest, "Intruder?"

"Yes. A human boy named Enzan Tage, assistant to the scientist, Doctor Christopher Faern. I'm sure we all remember the good Doctor Amadeus Faern from the halcyon years of the past."

"I miss him.." Sighed Piro.

"You miss everyone, Piro. Shush," Panic countered, with a smirk.

"Back on to the subject, you two. What did the kid want and why did you have to save him?" Lizzy asked, gaining a slight interest, multiple ways to kill Fidget running through her mind as payback for getting hugged.

"He was told to get into the system of the base and to get the schematics for high level Hunters and commanders. On the top of the list was; X, Axl, Zero, Signas, Alia, Douglas, Lifesaver, and Gate. He was only here because another doctor named.." Anode falters for a moment, thinking. Fidget glanced at Anode and added, "Doctor Sebastian."

"I've heard of him." Came Piro's voice, forcing Anode to look over at him, "You've what?"

"I've heard of him. Panic and I stay undercover when not on duty. I was reading in a magazine about him. Big famous scientist. He's rebuilding Reploids, the Government knows and yet they've done nothing to stop him." Piro turned to Panic, who added in, "Conspiracy anyone?"

"Hmm..." Fidget muttered lightly.

Dr. Sebastian set his head down on to the lab table in front of him, sighing heavily. He lifted his head up, staring at the wall screen right above the table, displaying the schematics for an unnamed Reploid. He slit his eyes a little, squinting at the screen, nodding lightly. He turned away from the Reploid, walking over to another table, this one held multiple instruments needed for this type of procedure. He lifted up a small tool, looked almost like tweezers, but they never closed and between the ends, electricity was generated. He stepped back out and plunged the instrument down into it's chest plate, sending sparks and zaps throughout its body. He withdrew the instrument and flipped closed the paneling. He set his hands, and the instrument, down on the side of the table.

"This should work.. Activate table three. Unit number: MWN-005."

A spasm of current shot through the Reploid, its optics slowly lifting open, revealing a pair of blue eyes. It sat up slowly, setting his hands on either side of the table. He gazed around the room for a few moments, his internal clock updating itself to the current date, multiple things hitting quickly, like a ton of bricks, "Where the hell am I?"

"You're in my laboratory." Came Robert's nonchalant response, as if anyone would know, the tone was agitating the Reploid.. "And who the **HELL** are you?"

"My name is Doctor Robert Sebastian. You are in my lab, you've been rebuilt after the catastrophe that ended the entire Reploid race centuries ago." The Reploid once again checked his internal calendar, gasping aloud as he noticed the massive jump of time.

The Reploid turned his body and slid off the lab table, pushing the palm of his hand into his forehead, coming in contact with a jade gem, the same gem upon his chest plate, as well as his gauntlets. This Reploid was mostly dark gray in color, the jumpsuit beneath being a deep reddish-tint, like the tinge of blood. That same red color adorned the ending of his boots and striped across his helmet. On that note, his helmet was adorned with a long horn, that extended forward above the jade gem embedded in the front, and then slid back, following the line of helmet. Upon his shoulders, two lighter gray spikes jutted outward, this same gray color outlined multiple parts of the armor plating.

"I've told you my name.. So you tell me yours?" Sebastian asked, setting his hands lightly within one another, "My.. My name?"

"My name.. My name is.. Is.. Shoryu Cyion."

An alarm rang about the room, forcing 32 to glance away from the computer. Enzan tipped over and fell on to the floor, groggily pushing himself on to his knees, a dark red mark on his face now where he hit the floor. He glanced up at 32, who held back a laugh. He turned back to the computer and clicked on the switch that activated the overhead communicator in the lab.

"32 here." Enzan stared up at the screen in silence, "This is Bread Man."

"Ah, nice to hear from you. Where's Alpha?" 32 inquired.

"He's with me.. Somewhere," Bread Man said lightly, glancing around.

"That doesn't sound very comforting," 32 replied, setting his hand to the side of his head.

"It shouldn't. You try going on a mission, in public, with this guy. He's like.. Pure energy, and annoying at that. He's almost as bad as letting Fidget talk for five whole minutes," Bread Man smirked lightly at his friend.

"The truth hurts, that it does. Just make sure he doesn't blow cover. And finish that up as quickly as possible." Bread Man nodded, "Understood. Oh, and what's this about Reploids in Section 19?"

"Dammit.. The News, I'm presuming?" 32 watched Bread Man nod, "Why of course."

"Lizzy and her recon unit got into a fire fight with a group of Mavericks. I checked the area, it was two D-1000's and about a dozen Grenadiers. Hunter-styled ones." Bread Man looked to the left, letting his jaw drop a little, "Dammit Alpha! Go put that back! I have to go, 32. We'll report back as soon a-**DAMMIT ALPHA! I SAID PUT IT BACK**!"

With a sigh, 32 leaned back in his chair. The comm. link with Bread Man cutting off after that last commanding yell. Enzan pushed himself to his feet, brushing the dirt from his knees. He walked around the room for a moment and then stopped by the door to the stasis pods, "32."

"Yes, Enzan?"

Enzan turned and looked back at the dark blue Reploid, a sly smirk on his lips, "You wouldn't happen to have a map of this entire structure, would you?" 32 stared at the kid for a moment before tapping lightly on the keyboard, a map coming up on the same screen as Bread Man's face, "Yes, but why do you want it?"

"I'm going to go find X."

AX's hand leapt from his side to his beam saber, his metallic fingers curling about the cylindrical hilt. He drew it from its attachment, the azure blade igniting almost immediately. He turned upon his two victims, swinging the blade forward hard. His two victims would have screamed in horror if they had seen the deadly blade coming for them, but the blade hit too quickly, cleaving the two of them in half, the two parts splitting and falling to either side of the blade. AX only laughed at the sight, spinning his blade within his right hand.

Faern stared silently at the Reploid that had just cut apart two of his Mets, the two of them exploding into small balls of fire, leaving slight charred marks upon the concrete floor. Enzan also stared, blinking a few times before shaking his head in disappointment.

"AX, cut it out. You're scaring the good doctor," Enzan said softly, his head still shaking.

Faern blinked a few times, turning his gaze back upon Enzan. _'Something is off with you today, Enzan.. Or are you really Enzan?'_ He turned back to the computer and began searching through the schematics for many of the high leveled Hunters. He stopped on one in particular, noticing just a profile and no schematics. This caught Enzan's attention, his eyes slitting slightly. Enzan reached over and tapped the keypad a few times, passing this Hunter. Faern grabbed Enzan's wrist, pulling him away from the keyboard, moving out of his seat. AX looked over at the two of them, returning his saber back to its slot. Faern tapped the keyboard, sending it back to the Hunter he had stopped on.

AX stared up at the screen, reading down through the profile and then tilting his head to the side a little. _'Why is Shift in the database? He's not even a real Hunter.. He's Black Ops.'_ He turned his gaze back to Faern and Enzan, watching the event unfold from his viewpoint a few feet away.

"Shift." Enzan stared back at the human scientist for a moment, before shaking his head, laughing lightly.

"You're a smart one, Dr. Faern.. Not even AX figured it out." Enzan smirked a little, his body beginning to melt and change into something.. Not human, nor completely Reploid.


	8. Chapter 07

**Chapter 7 - As The Light Fades**

Standing before both Faern and AX was an average-sized Reploid, or what could be mistaken as one. His armor was a dark silver in tint, with a carbon rubber-suit beneath of a lighter silver shade. His helmet was simple in design, that is until you came upon the ridges that connected where his forehead would be and raced back along the helmet and up into cylindrical cone-points. The shoulders are adorned with extra plating, making them more broad for extra protection, the chest was a single plate of armor, unlike X's which was cut into three sections. The gauntlets and boots were of simple Reploid design, nothing flashy there.

"Shift at your service."

AX's lips went from slightly agape into a small smirk, his hands touching together in a light clapping, "Flashy entrance, that's five points for you." Shift only grinned.

"So you're Shift.." Came Faern's voice, motioning toward the computer screen.

"That would be me," Shift replied, sliding down into the computer chair, while AX walked over and set one hand on the back of the chair and the other on the computer console, "The one thing that bothers me Shift, is why you're even in the database to begin with."

"32 decided that Faern would need to be to eventually figure out I wasn't Enz-" Shift began, but AX interrupted, "And that's another thing, where's the real Enzan?"

"If you'd let me finish a sentence, I'd be able to tell you," Shift sighed heavily, glaring slightly up at AX, who backed up a little and motioned for him to continue.

"Back in 32's lab, when you ran off. 32 called me in, Anode knew I was still active, so me being there wasn't a surprise to him. 32 explained the situation to me and told me to assimilate Enzan and to take you back to Faern. 32 told me to make sure that he would figure it out, instead of there always being two Enzan's running around. I'm in the database for that same reason. To make sure Faern would discover the farce." AX nodded, while Faern stroked his chin slowly.

"So now what?" AX asked after a few minutes.

"Now you go back and help 32, while I stay here and help Faern finish some Hunters," Shift replied, giving a grin.

"Don't take too long, Shift," AX called out as he went running from the building, Shift nodded a little.

"Ok, doctor. Let's get started."

Shoryu gazed around the laboratory, his eyes moving across every instrument and tool, his memories slowly beginning to return to him after all the years of being deactivated. Dr. Sebastian went walked past, carrying a tray of parts to a table on the other side of the room. Shoryu lifted himself from his table and dropped to the floor, following slowly behind him, getting used to being awake again. He stopped at the foot of the lab table, upon it laying the upper portion a half built Reploid. This Reploid was a collage of gold trimming and crimson armor. Upon the shoulders were epaulettes, golden fringes capping the shoulder plating. His face was blank, due to not being activated. Atop his head was a red beret, with a white patch in the front, topping his blonde locks. Though he was only half-finished, Shoryu could tell that this Reploid would be about the same height as X, the azure Maverick Hunter of the past.

"Who is this one?" Shoryu already knew of the doctor's planned, for he had been programmed to know, what he hadn't been programmed to know was his fellow 'Mavericks.'

"His name is Elcazor.. He's more advanced than you are, but he has less battle experience, which is why you're in command of many of the troops. You actually know what you're doing, Shoryu." The doctor said, messing with a few instruments on another table, "Make yourself scarce, I have work to do and cannot be bothered answering your questions."

Shoryu eyes slit for a moment, anger showing in his eyes. He shoved himself away from the table and walked away from the doctor, slamming his palm into the door to another room within Sebastian's establishment.

Alpha ran back and forth across the street, carrying the blue mail bin atop his right shoulder. Bread Man stood off to the side, staring at him in disapproval, but he couldn't do anything about it. Alpha hefted the bin upward with one hand and then threw back where he picked it up. It hit the ground, teetered backward a bit and then slammed back into its place in the ground, dents all across it from its misuse. Bread Man shook his head in disbelief and just walked away.

"Where you going Brendan!"

Alpha went chasing after him, refusing to be left alone for the second time while out on a mission. The first time was completely his fault too. He had been screwing around with the head of a blown up Joe and refused to leave it alone until he had completely covered the entire thing with rocks. When he got the last rock on there, everyone was already gone.

Alpha was really sad.. For about ten seconds.

32 sighed heavily, sitting back in his seat. He laced his fingers together in front of him and jerked slightly, cracking all of them at once. He sat forward, typing a few things up on the screen, changing certain aspects of Axl's programming, internal systems, and configuration. He turned his head to the screen next to him, watching Enzan's progress slowly through the massive headquarters.

Enzan rounded yet another corner. He was beginning to get tired of all the corners within the building. He didn't think there could EVER be that many corners in one building. He turned another corner and stopped, flicking on his flashlight and letting it lay across the massive silver door in front of him. He stepped forward slowly, touching his fingers lightly against the cool metal surface.

"32?" Enzan asked lightly, and 32 responded almost immediately, "I see it.. I have no idea what that is though. I doubt it has anything to do with X and Axl though."

"Don't you think the most inconspicuous area would be the perfect place to look?" Enzan inquired, still staring at the door. 32 sounded slightly agitated, "If you can get it open, look. If you can't, keep moving."

Enzan nodded lightly. He put the flashlight between his knees to keep it from falling to the floor. He set both of his hands to the door and shoved... Nothing happened. He sighed a little, and then began gliding his hands over the surface of the door, looking for any type of hidden panel or lock or opener of any sort.. Nothing. He stepped back and sent his foot slamming into the door, he yelped and grabbed his foot, the flashlight dropping to the floor, he rubbed his feet with his hands, standing on one foot, slightly hopping ever few seconds. "Ow."

"Idiot."

Enzan scowled and bent down to grab his flashlight. He turned away from the door and went off in another direction, hoping to find something slightly more exciting than a boring gray door that couldn't be opened.

A small hatch at the very tip-top of the door slid open and a small camera slid from it, watching the assailant upon the door walk away. The camera blinking, like an eye and then slid back into its place, the hatch closing. The sleeping figures within the room remaining undisturbed for another day.

"Finally!" Shift clapped his hands together, Faern glanced over at him, "What are you so happy about?"

Shift turned around to face the doctor, holding the completed helmet and gauntlets to Mega Man. He walked over to where the doctor was standing, manipulating his body into three arms, he set the three pieces into place, nodding with satisfaction. He brought his body back into itself and walked back to the other table, getting to work on the boots.

'_... I'm never going to get used to that.'_ Was all Faern could think after that spectacle.

Faern turned his gaze back toward the inner workings of Mega Man, sparks showering the lab table as he touches his welder inside of the almost complete frame of the newly rebuilt relic of old.

Shoryu's left wrist glowed faintly, before energy exploded forth from a small slit at the base of the gauntlet, a green beam racing out in front of him a few feet. He swung the wrist blade in front of him once, before dashing forward, lashing the blade across a rebuilt Joe, splitting him apart. Shoryu walked forward, the body exploding behind him.

"I hate this place.. I need to get out and do something.." A dark twinkle appeared within his eyes, "Hunters.. Be prepared for my return."

Lizzy crossed her arms across her chest, sighing lightly. Panic and Piro stood off to her left, Fidget was spinning a pistol around his right hand, not a sound coming from him, which was something new. Anode stood a few feet from Lizzy, in the same position, his arms crossed over his chest.

"What can't we just leave, Anode?" Lizzy snapped slightly in her tone, Anode didn't notice or didn't care, "We have to wait for AX. It's that simple. As soon as he gets here, we can go back to the lab."

All eyes turned in Fidget's direction as a blast was heard. Smoke was filtering out the end of Fidget's gun, an innocent little grin on his face as he quickly holstered it and ran off to find out what he had hit.

Panic glanced at Piro, who shook his head quickly.

Anode smirked slightly, uncrossing his arms. He turned away from Lizzy and set his hand to the side of his head, activating a comm. link to both 32 and AX at the same time, "Do you two copy?"

"Loud and clear." Came 32's response, but neither of them heard AX's response, "Do you think something happened to him, 32?"

"Could be a past position he's in. Communication satellite probably isn't in alignment for us to get his signal, or vice versa." Anode nodded a little, "I suppose."

Lizzy stepped up to Anode's side and pointed a little ways off down the destroyed rode. She whistled lightly and called back to her unit, "Piro! Panic! Up front, now."

The two did as they were told and came running. Piro stopped next to Lizzy and Panic stopped next to Anode. Lizzy pointed out toward the distant object moving quickly in their direction. Piro nodded and set his hands to his temple, a green visor flashing over his eyes.

"It's going too fast.. I can't keep my eyes on it." Piro said, annoyed and nervous at the same time, his eyes could be seen trailing over the visor slowly, trying to keep the figure in his sights, "**DAMMIT! STOP MOVING!**"

As if it had heard him, it stopped. Dust flew up over where the figure was standing and as it cleared, AX was found standing there, smirking slightly. He pointed toward them, smirking. Anode's link came to life seconds afterward, "You guys don't need to worry about me. Just remember. Going that fast usually means I'm not going to be able to talk."

The four of them went running toward AX, who stayed where he was standing, crossing his arms over his chest. When they got there, AX glanced about them and looked to Anode, "Where's Fidget?"

"I have no idea." Anode replied, completely calm despite his team member being missing. AX perked a brow at the calm Reploid, "I wonder where he's gotten off to."

"He'll show up eventually. Let's get back to the lab," Lizzy stated, rather forcefully, "I'm tired of being out here in the open with you freaks. Let's go already."

Lizzy strode off toward the HQ, with Panic and Piro following closely behind them. AX and Anode stood staring at another for a moment, and then Anode began to follow them. AX stood there alone and glanced around the ruined street where a battle had occurred only a few hours ago.

"You better be okay Fidget and get back to base.." AX closed his eyes, and then turned and followed after Anode and the rest.


	9. Chapter 08

**Chapter 8 - Government Issues**

Fidget crept through the back alley, his eyes roaming back and forth before him. He shivered a little, as if the temperature had just dropped multiple degrees, but the temperature gauge on his wrist hadn't changed.

It had been ages since he had done anything on his own, well.. Anything without back-up at the ready. All of the current missions he had undertaken, involved at least one person knowing the consequences of his actions, but this time.. He went off on his own, without anyone knowing. Apparently, none of them cared either, seeing as how they hadn't come looking for him. But Fidget knew how to take care of himself when going solo.

He sighed heavily, leveling his pistol before him, his eyes sliding back and forth in front of him. He spun on his heel quickly at the sound of metal tipping and clattering against the pavement, his pistol aimed carefully, but all that revealed itself was a small rat. He let out a sigh of relief slowly, but his body tensed as he felt the barrel of a some sort of rifle being placed against the small of his back. He shut his eyes and mentally yelled at himself for letting his guard down.

"State your business, immediately. Turn around and I blow a hole through your core."

Fidget flinched slightly and drew his pistol slowly up into his hand, letting the handle draw over his wrist, so the person with the rifle wouldn't fire, "I'm checking out this area for any signs of Mav-"

"Are you a Hunter?" The second question came before the first answer even finished, Fidget tried to glance back at his assailant, but to no avail, "Yes. I would be one if there was a Hunter organization still."

"You know a guy named Bread Man? Or 32?" His assailant actually waited for a complete answer before continuing with his interrogation. Fidget nodded lightly, "They weren't deactivated and are still active, yes."

"Ah-hah. Bleu! Orichalcon! Come out here." Fidget's eyes widened at those two names, a slight smile appearing on his lips.

The rifle was removed from Fidget's back and he slowly turned around, dropping his pistol into its holster at his waist. The wielder of the rifle stood before him, it was a much shorter Reploid, he had a simple green Reploid helmet, but it was adorned on either side of black spikes sprouting from the sensory units, and a single blue gem in the middle of his forehead. His entire armor was spackled with golden paint. The same blue color as his gem adorned the tip of his boots, as well as his belt and his gauntlets. At the back of his shoulders are golden clasps, keeping his red cape attached.

The two Reploids that join him are much taller than the he, both almost the same exact height. The male Reploid, standing to the right of the green Reploid, was a dark blue in color. The carbon rubber-suit beneath the armor was a darker shade of gray. The tops of his boots were adorned with lighter dray guards, that same color of armor tipping his boots, as well as adorning the plating around his neck. Twin reflectors adorned his chest and a bit below them, a light silver 'belt' coiled around his waist. The darker silver plating also adorned his helmet, wrapping about where his forehead would be, and leading back along the center of the helmet. A small light blue gem was located in the center of the forehead plating.

The female Reploid on the opposite side of the male, had armor the color of cyan. The chest plating was adapted to fit a female body, and a 'V' shaped light blue armor was made at the base of the front of her neck and placed down her chest plate, to make it seem like she had a 'V-neck' armor plating. Across her waist was a sort of gray belt, that wrapped from above her right hip to below her left. Her helmet was clipped at the back to let her hair, also a cyan color, to dangle around the base of her neck. The front of the helmet was slanted slightly, to cover her forehead, and a small ruby gem was placed in the center of the front. Her gauntlets and boots were standard issue Reploid design, but her boots had knee guards of small detail, made to keep her agility up. Her carbon rubber-suit was black in color and made to fit her body perfectly.

"Fidget!" The two gasped out his name in surprise simultaneously, stepping back slightly. Fidget gave a small smirk and set his hand to the side of his head, "The one and only!"

"How do you know my team-mates.. '_Fidget_?'" The shorter Reploid asked, glaring at everyone's favorite brown Hunter.

"O. Fidget used to work with us on numerous missions before the utopia." Orichalcon, the male Reploid answered. Bleu set her hand lightly upon Orichalcon's shoulder, "Fidget was our commanding officer."

'_O.. Where have I heard that name before.. I kno-.. OH MY GOD!'_ Fidget's hand flew from his side to his pistol, upholstering and aiming straight at O's forehead, "Step away from the Reploids, O! **DO IT NOW!**"

O had moved about as quick as Fidget had, his rifle aimed at Fidget's chest plating, his finger twitching lightly over the trigger, but he had also pulled Bleu in front of him as a shield, and shoved Orichalcon off to the side, causing him to trip and fall over a slab of concrete.

"Make your move, Fidget," O's lip twitched as he spoke, his finger setting upon the trigger, Fidget doing the same, one eye slipping closed as he aimed more carefully.

And with the squeeze of a trigger, a gun went off, the resounding blast echoing within the small alley. And one figure falling to the concrete earth, releasing their hold upon their weapon, having it topple to the side. Orichalcon gasped as he removed himself from the rubble he had been pushed into.

Faern stepped back away from the rebuild body of Mega Man, wiping the sleeve of his lab coat over his forehead to remove the sweat. He closed the panel over Mega Man's chest, latching it closed, replacing the carbon suit over his body, and then placing the chest plate back on him. He reached for the welder and began welding the armor into place, sending a shower of sparks upon the floor.

Shift whistled lightly as he spun a small claw-like instrument in his right hand. He drew the instrument over the helmet sitting in front of him, shaping the helmet design to be exactly like Proto Man's. He nodded at his work and set the instrument down. He picked up the helmet and walked past Faern and around the table containing Mega Man and stopped at the next table over, setting to down at the top of the table. He turned to Faern, "Do you want me to start the construction of Blues, or continue to make the armor?"

"It would be more helpful if you started on the construction of him. I'll be able to help in a few minutes. I need to add in a few more memory chips to Mega Man, and then I'll be able to activate him."

"You should activate them together, instead of separately," Shift returned, walking back over to 'his' lab table on the other side of Faern's.

"You may be right.." Faern muttered lightly, pushing Mega Man into a sitting position to begin adding in the memory chips.

"All the flaws have been corrected.. His design has been redone completely.. His memories have been added in. He's finally done.. It took me so long to finish him.. I just hope he can actually help out.."

"President Goompas, what are planning on doing in this situation concerning the famed Dr. Sebastian?"

The president sat back in his chair, sighing lightly, his eyes closed. He twiddled his fingers together for a few moments, before sitting back forward, opening his eyes. He lifted his right hand and re-adjusted his shades, giving one of those fake smiles that president's always give to calm the nations.

"The government is doing everything in its power to quench this flame of rebirth. Reploids were shut down for a reason. We will not be allowing them to retu-"

"But there have already been multiple accounts of rampage Reploids in the streets, Mr. President. What is the military going to do about them? Citizens are frightened out of their wits at the abominations."

"We'll do what we can to help everyone. No more questions please. I have something more important to attend to." And with that, President Goompas pushed himself out of his cushy-leather chair and walked out of the room.

The press exploded upon his exit. He strode down the monotone hallway, the bland colors always irritating his eyes. He lifted his hands to his black suit and tugged on it, pulling it more about his shoulders. He then readjusted his crimson tie, straightening it out. He turned down a hallway and stopped at the other end, setting his hand on the glowing green panel.

"Welcome Mr. Goompas." An automated female voice recited.

The eight locks undid themselves and steam rolled along the seam. Goompas stepped back as the massive steel door swung open, allowing him access. He walked into the room and walked up a small flight of stairs, standing in the center of a circular shaft. He tapped a code into the panel off to his left and the elevator began its descent, the sound of the door overhead closing as he dropped multiple stories.

The elevator finally came to a stop, letting Goompas out on to a dimly lit hallway. He proceeded forward, pushing open a glass door. Before him was a massive secret underground laboratory. Dozens of scientists from different countries were running back and forth across the room. There were more tables then there were scientists, and atop each table was a machine. Most were half-built, some were nowhere near completion, and others were almost completed. Goompas walked down the flight of stairs to where the scientists were located.

"Goompas! I have a new Reploid idea, sir!" A young scientist came running up to him, waving a blue print in front of him, Goompas could only sigh.

"What's your idea _THIS_ time, Andehshun?" He stood still as the scientist came running to him, handing over the blue print to the president.

Goompas' eyes ran over the schematics of this new robot and was taken aback at how skillfully designed it was. It reminded him of X in many ways, but it was also different. He flipped to the next page and noticed multiple components that had never been used before.

"Hmm.. What's it's name, Andehshun?" Goompas asked, looking up at the young Roboticist. Andehshun smiled widely, "I want to name him.. Paragon."

"Get Dr. Malone and Dr. Stabler to assist you on this project. Complete it as quickly as possible. The idea of a Reploid capable of making armor at will after accumulating schematics from other Reploids is very intriguing. I would like to see him in action." Goompas returned the blue prints and Andehshun nodded, "Thank you sir!"

The young man ran off and collected Malone and Stabler and took them to a table that was empty on the complete other side of the room, laying out the schematics for them to overlook. Goompas nodded lightly and walked over to the head of the department, Dr. Raijouta, who was busily assigning tasks to a group of slightly older scientists.

"Dr. Raijouta. I assume you're almost finished with the Wandering Souls force. I'm only assuming this because you've had more time than initially determined." Goompas crossed his arms over his chest, slitting his eyes a little.

"Oh.. President Goompas, sir.. Uhm.. We.. Ugh.. Dynamo is the only one we have left to finish, then his force will be c-c-complete. I'm positive on this sir," Dr. Raijouta stammered out, dabbing his handkerchief at his forehead.

"That's good to hear. Get back to work." Goompas turned away from the good doctor, who almost fainted.

'_I can't believe I have to resort to rebuilding Mavericks to fight against Sebastian's Reploids.. This is so embarrassing.. Like that one time in first grade when I p-.. Get your mind on track, Goompas!'_

"Alright! Let's keep up the good work. I want the Wandering Souls to be completed before the end of the day today. Other than that, everyone else progress normally. Oh.. Andehshun, Malone, and Stabler are not to be taken away from their current project. This one is **VERY** important. Allow them to finish it.' Goompas watched as the scientists within the room and nodded and returned to work. He let himself out.


	10. Chapter 09

**Chapter 9 - Rage Of The Machine**

Shoryu kneeled comfortably atop the closest building to the Hunter HQ, his blue eyes skimming over the entrance to the ruined base, parts from the destroyed force Sebastian had sent were littered all across the terrain in front of the base.

'_Anode did that.. He's the only one with a powerful enough buster.. At least.. He was the only one at the time of the Reploid demise..'_

The Maverick closed his eyes and sighed lightly, setting his hands lightly upon the twin lances at his waist, twirling his thumbs slowly around the ends of the metallic shafts. He opened his eyes, and while grinning beneath his face mask, pushed off the rooftop. Mid-jump, he activated the thrusters in his boots and air-dashed along the sky, dropping steadily.

Anode and AX walked side by side, watching as Panic and Piro an on ahead, pretending to be fighting, shouting out the names of their attacks before making the motion for them, sending 'blasts' at own another. Lizzy strolled along behind Anode and AX, glancing back and forth along the collapsed road, her thoughts on other things.

"Samurai Cutter!"

"Redemption Wave!"

"Shut up the two of you!" Lizzy burst out, glaring at the two of them.

Panic and Piro both stopped, straightening up at the sound of their commander's voice, glancing at each other. They stood stalk still as Anode and AX walked past, a stealthy smirk on AX's lips. Lizzy stood in front of them, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"There will be no more of **that**. You understand me?" The two of them nodded quickly. "That's good. Now stop fooling around and scout ahead. We're almost to the base, but we don't know what this Sebastian might have waiting for us."

"Yes ma'am." Piro's visor slid down over his eyes and he turned and ran across the road, leaping up the side of a building to the rooftop to get a better view.

"Of course, Commander Lizzy." Panic pushed his helmet back down over his head and turned and ran off, passing by both Anode and AX, leaping on to a broken lamp post and jumping on to the roof of one of the smaller buildings, his hand morphed into his gatling buster.

Lizzy walked over to Anode and AX, who smirked down at her. She shook her head, giving them both a deadly glance and walked on ahead of them. AX laughed lightly, following after her, closely followed by a smiling Anode.

Shoryu landed on a shifting metal panel and quickly leapt once more as it slid off it's peak and slid down amongst the rubble. He landed a few feet in front of the pit where the metal slab fell. He looked toward the massive metal doors of the HQ, nodding lightly as he made his way toward it. As he drew close to the door, a few feet away from his destination, the sound of voices caught his attention. He twisted his head to the side, his eyes widening, and then dove out of sight.

"You work much faster than I can, Shift. I appreciate the help."

"It's my job to help you, Faern. That's why I was sent here."

Faern put the finishing touches on the core of Blues, as Shift stood at the head of the lab table containing the red robot. As Faern drew the welder away from the robot's chest, Shift lifted Blues away from the table and inserted a few memory chips into the back of his neck, allowing the few seconds it took to process all of the data, and then removed them.

"We're ready now, doctor."

Faern slowly walked around the tables and set the welder down on a small trolley. He turned and nodded to Shift, who laid Blues back down against the table and stepped away from them both. Faern picked up a control from the trolley at his side. He tapped a code into the pad, before inserting his thumb into the glowing blue area. As he lifted his thumb away from the control, the two robots on the table shook slightly. Mega Man lifted his head from the table and sat up, setting his hands to either side of his helmet, shaking slightly. He twisted his legs off the table and landed on his feet, opening his eyes and turned to Shift and Faern, "Where.. Where am I?" Blues hadn't moved yet, but at the sound of Mega Man's voice his body shifted. He leaped to his feet on the table, spun and aimed his buster at the human and unknown Reploid.

'_Who are these two? And why is my chronometer spazzing out? This time can't be right.. It can't be.. No. I refuse to believe this! **I HAVEN'T BEEN DEAD THIS LONG**!'_

Panic leaped across the gap between the buildings and landed on a roof of a brick house, his footing slipping slightly on the wet red stone. He walked forward slowly, his gatling aimed before him. He noticed Piro's position on the opposite side of the street, his sniper rifle drawing over the street slowly, waiting for something to appear so that he could shoot it. Panic's attention returned to himself as he heard the sound of someone skipping up the side of a wall. He ran to the opposite side of the building, but before he got there, a jolt of electricty shattered his reality and sent him sprawling across the rooftop, splitting the 'rail' on the opposite side and sending him crashing to the alley flooring.

Shoryu smirked lightly as he flipped over the side of the roof and landed in a crouch on the brick roof. He laughed lightly, setting his hand to his face mask to keep it from being heard by the Hunters down on the road. His head spike spun back around into it's place, after twisting around to fire the electrical attack it could produce.

'_That Hunter was extremely weak.. I hope that's not the best they have..'_

A shot rang out, and Shoryu flipped to the side, the plasma shot ripping through the roof, forcing it to crumble. He landed on the side of the hole and leaped upward, another blast splitting the air at his side, almost hitting him. He glared at the Reploid on the rooftop across the street.

'This one will die slowly.. I'll make sure of it.'

"Lizzy!" Lizzy set her hand to her comm. unit, staring up the street. "Panic's been hit. We have Maverick activity."

"How many?" She waved for Anode and AX to catch up. "A single unit, took Panic with one hit, I believe. Melee-unit, I believe. I should be able to keep him at bay until you three arrive."

"Keep it up, Piro. Avoid injury!" Lizzy turned to face the two male Hunters with her, a dark grin on her lips, "He hurt one of my units. I'm going to kill him, don't even try to stop me you two. Or I'll have to split you apart as well, you got it!"

Anode smirked, nodded and activated his foot thrusters, exiting their presence rather quickly. AX quickly followed, his beam saber in hand and activated, the azure blade creating a small aura as he dashed after Anode. Lizzy grinned darkly and whipped out her baton, activating both sides of the axe, spinning it around in front of her as she quickly followed after them.

Shoryu's arm morphed into his buster as he leapt from the brick roof, multiple blasts emitting from the end, tearing through the house that Piro was positioned on, but never hitting him. Shoryu landed into the ground with a massive thud, dashing forward before Piro could get another shot off. He leaped from the edge of the sidewalk, slamming into the side wall of the house, firing a shot straight upward through the ceiling. He turned and dashed straight back out of the house, the spike on his helmet spinning around to face before him. He twisted in his dash, coming to a stop facing the house. A jolt of electricity spiraled upward, wrapping around Piro's form, sending him flying backward across the roof. He turned to see three other Hunters beginning to arrive.

"Hello Hunters.. Welcome to my nightmare.."

AX came crashing down first, his saber hitting nothing but the street as Shoryu leaped backward, his buster forming and firing straight at him. Anode appeared in front of AX, whipping his double-ended saber through the blast, canceling it out with the electric end of his saber. Shoryu growled, but dashed to the side as Lizzy leaped over the two of them, swinging the axe for Shoryu's head, slamming into the ground and spinning the axe out in front of her.

Shoryu snatched the twin beam lances from his waist and leaped over Lizzy's axe, sweeping both blades for her face, but she leaped backward away from the attack. He landed where she was just standing and dashed to the side, drawing the two blades into an 'X' in front of him at AX, who couldn't avoid it quick enough and he went spiraling backward across the street.

Anode slammed his saber down in front of him, swinging it quickly. Shoryu drew one blade upward and caught the plasma end, spinning the spike around to the front of his helmet once more. Anode swung the electric side of his saber into the electric jolt, catching it inches from him, the current trying to draw him into it.

Lizzy slammed her shoulder into Shoryu's side, sending him crashing into the middle of the street, but he immediately flipped to his feet, his spike sparking with electric current, before launching a jolt at Lizzy. She leaped over it and brought her axe down upon Shoryu, who tried to evade, but the axe cleaved through his left arm, removing it entirely from his body.

"**GRAH!**" Shoryu yelled out in pain, leaping away from Lizzy and her axe, sparks showering away from his arm.

"Get back here, Maverick!"

Lizzy quickly dashed in for revenge upon her team members, but Shoryu slipped to the side of her axe swing, slamming his still able hand into the middle of her baton, the shower of sparks raining upon the road as her axe deactivated. Shoryu leaped toward Lizzy's still dashing form and slammed his foot down into her back, sending her crashing into the pavement. Shoryu stood upon the downed female Hunter, deactivating the beam lance and setting it back to his waist, his hand morphing into a buster and aiming toward Anode.

"Give this message to whoever's in charge.." Anode's buster aimed back, as Shoryu continued speaking, "I'm going to kill all of you."

Anode's buster went off, but Shoryu had already began his retreat, escaping through a nearby alley-way and vanishing from sight. Anode turned his gaze to the sound of footsteps behind him, AX joining him at his side, sparks leaping from the cut in his chest panel.

"Stupid damn Maverick.."

Anode smirked and helped AX over to where Lizzy was slowly getting to her feet. She coughed loudly, reaching for her ruined baton and returning it to its holster. She pushed herself to her feet, dusting off the carbon rubber suit, multiple tears in it across her mid-drift and legs.

"Remind me to kill him harder for ruining my axe, that bastard.."

The three Hunters turned their attention farther down the street, watching Panic limp toward them. But he stopped and waved for them to come to him. They walked over to their fellow damaged Hunter, who's armor was split in half and his helmet was missing.

"I got felled in one god damn shot.. Dammit.." Panic wiped the blood trickling from his lips, turning his head as Piro emerged from the rooftop and dropping down beside them all.

"Hey.. At least we all lived.." Piro said optimistically.

"He has a point." Everyone turned to look at the only non-damaged member of their little group; Anode.

"Shut up!" They all cried in unison.

Shift's body created a hole in the middle of it as Blues' buster went off, creating a small hole in the wall behind him. Shift fired off a piece of himself that clogged Blues' buster, shorting it slightly.

"Dammit.."

Mega Man set his hand lightly on Blues' shoulder, which got Blue's attention. They stared at each for a moment, before Blues morphed his buster back into his hand, throwing the glob of silver goo back at the silver Reploid, who absorbed it back into his chest. Mega Man turned and looked at Faern and Shift, clearing his throat slightly.

"Anyone wanna tell us what the hell is going on around here?"


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 - Reinforcements on All Ends**

Alpha ran on ahead of Bread Man, who walked slowly along behind him, his fingers entwined against the back of his head, his eyes staring off into the sky. Alpha swiftly climbed up on to a lamp post, staring down the street in silence, which brought tears to Bread Man's eyes.

"Brendan... Umm.. What's big.. Purple.. And makes **BIG** cracks in the road?"

"... Do I even want to know?" Bread Man glanced up at Alpha, who was trying to squint farther down the road.

He leaped from the lamp post and landed beside his partner, his azure saber activating at his side. He nodded up at his taller companion, he morphed his hand into a bigger than normal buster. They readied themselves for this new threat.

"Okay, Alpha.. You need to put your game face on," Bread Man instructed, aiming his buster carefully in front of him, slitting one eye to get a better angle. Alpha let his eyes widen to the size of dish saucers, his jaw falling open, drool trickling down on to the ground in front of him, "Alp-.. Dammit Alpha! Not your **VIDEO GAME** face! Your **SERIOUS** face! Stop screwing around!" Alpha quickly shut his mouth and gave an innocent grin, "Oops, sorry."

Enzan leaned against a wall, yawning loudly as he slumped his entire form into the steel structure. He closed his eyes as another wave of sleep rode over him. He slid down the wall and sat down on the floor, 32 laughing lightly in the control room. Enzan lifted his hand to the ear piece, clicking it off and falling into a slightly deep sleep.

The steel door clicked lightly, every two to three seconds, another tink landing on the door. Steam collected on the seams of the doorway, the door sliding upward, steam covering the entirety of the door. A silhouette appeared in the door, stepping out from the shadows of the darkness. The door slid closed behind him, the steam slowly beginning to clear, red armor flashing in the dim light of the underground corridor. A pair of dark shades gleamed slightly as the light licked across them. He hefted up a mighty shield and set off down the hallway away from the door, the lights flickering off as he passed.

"We've got Crushers, too!"

Bread Man leaped backward, firing off twin shots from his buster. The first shot ricocheted off the spiked bottom of one of the Crushers, blowing apart a chunk of the sidewalk. But the other blast was clean, and blew the Crusher apart. Alpha leaped into the air, screaming out, "BAKA SLASHER!" cleaving his saber up through spikes and core, ripping the Crusher in two, the explosion lurching him backward slightly. He landed and spun on one foot, switching his free hand into his buster, "BAKA BUSTER!" Multiple shots of plasma raining from the end of his buster, tearing through multiple Crushers at once.

32 slammed his hands down against the computer console, snarling angrily at the screen before him, "Dammit!" He sighed heavily and set his head down against the keyboard, breathing in and out slowly, calming himself. He lifted his head and stared at the screen, X's schematics displayed on the screen. He tapped a few keys lightly, letting different calculations be put into the design of X's design, he was rewarded with a beep and a red flashing light.

"Why doesn't anything work.." 32 typed in another calculation, receiving the same answer, "No matter how hard I try.. X's design will always be flawed."

Alpha tripped over himself, falling to the ground. Fortunately, his fall got him out of the way of a Crusher's spiked bottom. The device slamming into the ground where Alpha had just been. Bread Man cut the Crusher's spike free and filled the smaller Reploid's face with plasma. The explosion not big enough to effect either Hunter. Alpha got to his feet, grinning over at Bread Man, who shook his head and fired off a round of plasma at the incoming Quaker.

"We got big purple Reploids!" Alpha called out, laughing lightly.

Bread Man's saber flashed quickly across the terrain, the crimson blade tearing through the Quaker's single arm, ripping through metallic cords and sockets, the Reploid-sized arm dropping to the earth with a shattering sound, tearing tendrils into the earth. Alpha, who had just yelled out, "BAKA SLASHER!" swung his sword through the Quaker's head, ripping it from it's shoulders and sending it toppling across the earth. He leaped from the purple shoulders of the Quaker; all three parts exploding simultaneously, shrouding the two Hunters in smog.

"Good work, Alpha. But no time to dawdle. We need to find that warehouse. If 32 is right, there might be more Hunters there." The two Hunters went running down the road, Alpha adding a skip to his step as they went.

The red Reploid stood over the small human boy sitting against the wall. He set his shield down in front of the human, a dark smirk on his face as he knelt down and turned the flashlight off.

"No need to waste the batteries like that."

He got back to his feet, slid his hand into the notch at the back of the shield, hefted it back up. The red Reploid turned and slowly made his way back to the room with the silver doorway. The door opened the same way as before, with an unnecessary amount of steam. The Reploid walked through the door, which closed behind him latching shut, the hinges on the sides disappearing into the wall, as to make the door look as if it cannot be opened in anyway.

32 was getting extremely frustrated. Not only was every calculation he put into the computer to correct the flaw designs on X's armor not working, but Enzan had fallen asleep on the job. He shook his head and entered a few more calculations into the computer, each rewarding him with an erroneous beep and a flashing red of the screen. He slammed his hand into the console.

"Damn you Dr. Light! You and your stupid robot!"

32 stared into his hands for a moment, thinking carefully. He then lifted his head quickly. He tapped on the computer, bringing up a split screen of X without the Light Armor and then him with it. The design flaws were completely corrected when X was in the Light Armor.

"That's why! Dr. Light set it up so that X would be completely flawless under his armor. He was supposed to be that way. Well.. Time to fix that."

32 set about transferring the calculations from X with the Light Armor on to X without the Light Armor. X's design began to change and reform itself on the screen as each calculation was entered. In the end, both of the designs were completely the same, but X was now going to start out completely flawless, instead of having to work himself up to that point.

32 kicked the floor slightly, rolling the chair over to the monitor containing Axl's data. Though being a Reploid, 32 yawned loudly. He checked his chronometer and blinked a few times, the time didn't seem right, but it had to be.

'_I've really been up five hundred hours? I need to recharge.. Axl. You'll have to wait until tomorrow.'_

32 pushed the chair out away from the computer and walked out of his miniature laboratory. He walked down the hallway a few yards, stopping at a doorway slightly taller than he. He tapped in his passcode and entered the room. Within the room was a cooling unit containing nothing but Energy Capsules, and a Recharge Pod. 32 set one foot on the side of the pod and the green paneling slid open. He stepped up inside of the massive unit and the paneling closed behind. He shut himself down and the lights dimmed in the room, a soft green glow illuminating the room.

Bread Man and Alpha had been running for three days straight, at the least. They had gone from the western most side of the city, where the ruins of the old Maverick Hunter base was located, to the eastern most side of the city, where there was even less human activity. Apparently, the west and east sides of this particular city were considering the playground to gang fights and other illegal activities.

Bread Man grabbed Alpha by the shoulders and lifted him up to the window, letting him look inside the grime covered rectangle. He scrubbed his hand over it, revealing a big enough clean area to look through. He gazed into the factory, whispering down to Bread Man, "Are you sure this is the right one?" Bread Man acknowledged his answer with a nod. Alpha leaped from his position atop Bread Man's shoulders.

"We need to go inside. There are too many boxes by the window to be able to see anything clearly. If there really are some Stasis Pods in there, we have to get a closer look."

Alpha walked around the corner, morphing his hand into a buster, Bread Man following suit. The two slipped into the warehouse as silently as Reploids could. Bread Man took the west side, motioning for Alpha to take the east. He swept through the entire warehouse slowly, gazing around for a pair of twin Stasis Pods of the same size and color.

"I don't see anything, Alpha. How about you?"

"I think I got something."

Bread Man ran over to Alpha's position on the opposite side of the warehouse. He cut straight through the middle. The two hunters stood in front of two blue pods with jade paneling. The one on the right contained a dark armored hunter, with red trim. Bread Man noted that it reminded him a lot of the Shadow Armor that X used to wear. Alpha grabbed a towel sitting on a nearby box and rubbed it over the other pod, revealing a Reploid that looked distinctly like Zero, but his armor was blue, and his long hair was red instead of yellow.

"We found them, Bread Man."

"Yea.. Mr. Death and Franco. The two Hunters that joined during the Repliforce years. That was such a long time ago. I hope they still have their memories intact, I doubt 32 will want to reprogram all of that information back into them."

Bread Man and Alpha both leaned down in front of the two pods, inserting passcodes into the twin pods. The code to Franco's pod was the exact opposite of what Mr. Death's was. As the panels accepted the passcodes as the correct ones. Bread Man and Alpha stood back up and stepped back away from the pods, the two Reploids inside activating right before their eyes.

"Awaken Elcazor, you've been reborn."


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 - A Rest Finally Worth Taking**

Goompas reclined in his leather chair, setting his feet up on to the round wooden desk before him. He reached out and grabbed a manilla folder from atop the mahogany desk, flipping the crammed 'Confidential' folder open. He scanned the first page, reading over the notes Doctor Raijouta had placed along the names of the Reploids to be built into the Wandering Souls team.

'_Dynamo..'_

The leader of the newly formed squad. He was a mercenary back during the days of the Sigma Wars. He was never displayed as a Maverick, only as a Mercenary that refused to lose to X nor Zero, always fighting them. He refused to lose to them, so he would flee until the next fight. Hopefully, this new Dynamo would not be so cowardice and stay around until the end of the battle.

'_Forte..'_

A relic made long ago by the famed, yet mad, Doctor Albert Wily back the 20XX century. He had been built with one purpose, and one purpose alone; to battle Rock and to win. He never did succeed at his task, and was eventually destroyed by another of Wily's robots. The one and only red Maverick Hunter; Zero.

'_Storm Eagle..'_

One of the first groups of Hunters turned into Mavericks by Sigma. He was once close friends with Zero, before the Virus turned him into a blood thirsty killer of all human-kind. He was eventually destroyed by X, by his parts were collected by ex-partner Zero and returned to Dr. Cain. He didn't want his old teammate to go down like that.

'_Flame Stag..'_

Another form Maverick under Sigma's ruling. Flame Stag was influenced during the Second Wave of the Sigma Virus. During his corruption, Zero was stolen by the X-Hunters and placed into three sections, each section given to one of the X-Hunters. Agile was given the head, Serges was given the chest, and Violin was given the legs. X had to not only fight his way through the three X-Hunters, but he also had to destroy the Mavericks. Flame Stag was one of them, his lair built within a volcano.

'_And Slash Beast..'_

The last re-constructed member of the new Wandering Souls group. Slash Beast was a brutal Hunter, always taking out the opposition with ferociousness and deadly skill, leaving the bodies in shreds. He was just as skilled with the claws on his hands as he was with his deadly kicks, which were much more deadly due to the claws on his feet as well. Slash Beast went Maverick during the Repliforce era, taking control of a hover-train as his base. X was in for the hardest fight of his life when he took on Slash Beast, but in the end he won. The remains of this deadly Maverick were retrieved by the Maverick Hunters, not wanting this foul beast to be unleashed again.

"I hope you picked out the right team, Raijouta.."

Goompas flipped closed the manilla folder, tossing it back on to his mahogany desk. He reached for a light blue folder, flipping it open. He glanced at the schematics of Andehshun's Reploid; Paragon. He set his left hand to the side of his head, resting the folder in his lap. He curled his dark locks about the singular finger, flipping to the internal schematics. He smirked slightly, nodding his head.

"Andehshun designed this Reploid well.. A Schematic Analyzer to assist in collecting new armors for battle.. And a Stasis Web idea in case he was ever infected with a virus.."

'_I remember those ideas from somewhere else.. I just can't remember where..'_

Goompas closed the folder and tossed it up on to the desk, his shaded eyes glancing toward the clock set in the direct center of the large desk. It flashed the digital numbers at him repeatedly; 11:46. He groaned and sat up, yawning loudly. He touched the intercom on his desk and spoke tiredly, "Sherrie.. Can you get me a large cup of coffee?" And the reply came shortly, "Of course, Mr. President." Goompas released the button and sat back in his chair, waiting for the cup of java that would refresh him enough to keep him awake at least another four hours.

Shoryu stumbled into Sebastian's laboratory, a Joe helping him along, trying to stop the leaking fuel from his arm. Sebastian turned to look at his returned Maverick, sighing heavily. He pointed to the table Elcazor had been laid on while being built. Shoryu pushed himself up on to the table with his free arm, while Sebastian shooed away the Joe.

"You got yourself damaged already?" Sebastian cocked a brow, restraining himself efficiently from getting angry. Shoryu stared at the ceiling, "I went and fought the Hunters."

"Did you kill any of them?" Sebastian asked, sarcasm ringing through his forth. Shoryu snarled sharply, "I took out three before I was wounded, and then took out another. The fifth one; Anode, has always been too powerful to take on while handicapped."

"Excuses for your failure."

Sebastian shut down Shoryu's systems as the Maverick reached his good hand to grab the doctor's throat and throttle him. The arm went limp and fell over Shoryu's chest. Sebastian slowly set about repairing his first real Maverick Reploid, sighing lightly with each passing minute.

Piro and Panic stumbled into the Hunter Base, those two being the worst off from the fight, due to the direct shots of voltage to their systems. Panic dropped to his knees at the doorway, AX helping him up as he walked past. Panic stumbled toward the door, his hair sparking from the voltage still running through him, his right hand gripping at the center of his chest, where his power core was.

"I'm running low on energy.. And fast.."

"We all are, Panic. We've been active for too long. 32's missions are getting more and more atrocious," AX commented, lifting Panic a little more, helping him walk.

Piro opened the hatch to the basement area of the base, he entered and was followed by AX and Panic, then Lizzy, and Anode brought up the rear, glancing behind him to make sure there was no one following them into the base. As Anode slid underneath the hatch and it shut behind him, a figure strode forward from the shadows, a dark purple rapier ignited in his right hand.

Panic activated the coding to his door, the door leaping open. AX helped him into his room as Lizzy, Piro, and Anode walked to their corresponding rooms. AX lifted Panic up by his shoulders, setting him into the pod. AX nodded lightly as Panic bent down and activated the code himself. The paneling slid closed in front of him, casting a blue sheen over his yellow armor. AX exited Panic's chambers as the lights dimmed and the pod activated.

Piro stepped into his room, closing his eyes and leaning heavily against the metal door. He undid the visor around his face and tossed it to the floor by his pod. He pushed away from the wall and stepped up inside the silver pod, activating it with a simple voice command, "Sleeping time." The paneling slid down from the top and latched into the bottom, activating and sending Piro into a slumber as he shut down.

Lizzy stepped into her room and angrily threw her destroyed baton across the room, the cylinder slamming into the wall and embedding itself there. He drew her teeth together and ground them together, setting her hands to the sides of her head, restraining herself from bellowing out in anger. He slowly relaxed and stepped into her black recharge pod, the crimson paneling displaying intricate patterns across her green armor. She shut down and the system began to recharge her core.

AX and Anode met in 32's lab, noting his absence. As well as Enzan's presence, sleeping or otherwise. Anode pointed to the screen displaying X's schematics, smirking slightly. AX walked over and leaned over the computer, staring at X's designs, all the flaws removed. He shook his head, "32 removed the flaws by making X's design incorporate the Light Armor from the get-go." Anode nodded softly, undoing his helmet and setting it into the crook of his arm, "That means X is going to be powerful upon reactivation, meaning we won't have as much work to do."

AX smirked clicked off the monitors to the computer. He rounded about and followed Anode out of the small laboratory. Anode and AX split paths at the first intersection; Anode going to the left and AX to the right. AX opened his door with a quick tap of three buttons and stepped into his room. He smiled lightly at the Light Pod set up on the right side of the room. He walked over to it, the paneling disappeared and Light's hologram appeared before him.

"Welcome back, Alpha-X." Came the hearty greeting from the old doctor, "It's good to see you too, father."

Anode slit his lips into a small line, standing in front of his door. He looked up and then to the ground, pondering for a moment whether he would really need to recharge. He shrugged off his wait and entered his room, disappearing into the darkness within. The sounds of a pod activated and the swish of closing panel was heard.

"Were you successful on your mission?" Dr. Light asked, his hologram rarely ever moving anything but the lips.

"My mission was semi-successful. I was on convoy, returning a human teenager to his place of work. It turned out, that it was Black Ops Agent Shift undercover." Dr. Light nodded his head, "Ah."

"Anode and Fidget were successful in helping Lizzy and her group in defeating the Maverick disturbance. It was two D-1000s in a partially populated area," AX went on, "Fidget didn't return with us, and is still out there somewhere."

Dr. Light's face would have shown its concern if it were able to do so, but it only nodded slowly. AX smiled slightly, laughing a little, "But knowing Fidget, he's probably in more trouble now than he will be when he gets back."

Dr. Light laughed softly, AX smirking from across the room. He waved goodnight to Dr. Light, "Goodnight Father. I will see you tomorrow, then?" Dr. Light's hologram disappeared behind the paneling, but his voice came through clearly, "Of course my son. I will always be here."

AX stepped up into the pod, deactivating his systems. The azure panels slid down around the circular formation of the pod, closing AX up inside of it. After a second, the lights in the room dimmed out and the pod activated, shining a blue light around the small space, recharging AX's energy core.

O's body toppled to the floor, smoke streaming from the center of his small chest, billowing upward toward the darkened sky. Fidget breathed heavily, blinking for a few moments before pulling himself together. He kept the gun out, just incase O wasn't really out for the count. Bleu stepped away from O's fallen form and stood beside Orichalcon, holding her hand over her mouth as Fidget stepped toward the body.

"Why did.. Why'd you shoot him, Fidget!" Orichalcon gasped out, keeping Bleu close and away from Fidget.

"That was O.. O.. The Reploid that Bread Man built. He went Maverick days before the humans turned against us and started to shut us down. You guys didn't recognize him?" Fidget shouted out slightly, gazing up at the two of them.

A sudden movement from O's body made Fidget jerk and let off a trio of shots straight into the Reploid's face and chest, the explosion sending Fidget toppling over backward. He sat up and shook his head, wiping the grime from his face. Bleu and Orichalcon glanced back and forth between one another and stepped forward toward the scorched mark on the flooring. Fidget pulled himself to his feet and stood in front of the two frightened Reploids, smirking slightly.

"You guys wouldn't happen to have a base somewhere around here that has a recharge pod now would you?" Bleu nodded softly, pointing back the direction they had come, "Yes, Fidget. We have on-**FIDGET**?"

Fidget went toppling forward, slamming into Orichalcon's chest, his energy core almost completely depleted from energy discharge. Orichalcon hefted their commander up on to his shoulder and carried him back toward the base they had with O.

Goompas checked the clock again, as he had five minutes ago. It glared back at him with its neon glow; 1:27. Goompas groaned out loud, catching the attention of Sherrie just outside the door. She came rushing into the room and smirked slightly at the President, "Sir. You can go to bed now. I'll take over the folders for you, and then when I take my break, I'll get Cicero to take over when he gets in later on today."

Goompas nodded lightly and slid out of his chair, walking toward the door on the left side of the room. He pushed open the door and toppled into the room and on to his leather futon-type bed. He threw his shades on to the floor and ripped off his tie, tossing it on to the floor. He grabbed his pillow and curled up with it.

'_Hopefully.. The vice president will be capable of taking care of all those files.. Cicero better do a good job.. Or I'll bludgeon him.'_


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 - An Awakened Hero**

"You've been rebuilt."

"We can see **THAT**. But why were we?" Mega Man asked, setting his hands on his hips in a defiant gesture.

"Your help is needed again." Came Shift's soft-spoken answer.

'_We've been gone for so long.. And now they expect us to just get back up and start fighting? No.. I'm done fighting. I refuse to fight anymore.'_

"No."

"No what?" Shift asked, turning to look at Mega Man.

"I'm done. This isn't my war. It's yours." He was being stern about it.

"But even the Wily Robot Masters are involved."

"I don't care! I'm finished with all this pointless fighting! It gets us nowhere!" Mega Man stepped away from the three of them.

Blues let his head drop forward slightly, his chin setting against his chest. He knew how much his brother had been through during the Wily Wars. He knew everything that had been taken from his life, from his sister to his father. To himself, who had been destroyed in the end due to faulty programming. Mega Man had been left alone to fend for himself, and eventually, so it seemed.. He had been destroyed as well, trying to save everyone that he could.

The purple rapier wove through the air, making small patterns in the air. Elcazor was traversing the halls of the Maverick Hunter HQ, without a care in the world. The only people in the building were all either too damaged to fight him, or too weakened from prolonged activation that he would go unhindered in his journey. He thought back to what the fine doctor back at the lab had told him..

"_Find the room containing X, Elcazor. And kill him."_

Elcazor snorted loudly. The sound vibrating along the walls, but nothing came to find out what the noise was, or where it came from. He de-ignited his rapier and stuck the hilt into its holster, walking slowly through the corridors of the base. He glanced at the multiple doorways, sighing heavily.

"For a base rundown this much, they sure do have a helluva lot of doors in here!"

Elcazor rounded a corner and proceeded down this hallway. He stopped at the end at stared the massive silver door to his left. He stood in front of it, glaring at the front of the door.

'_No handle.. No doorknob.. Nothing to let me in.. Except this.'_

Elcazor's rapier ignited and was in hand quickly. He slammed the purple beam through the center of the door, cutting through it easily. He drove it upward, the metal peeling away from the blade's path. He then flipped his grip and brought the blade down, some of the metal melting away from the touch of the beam. He drew the beam from the door and horizontally cut through the entire door, the four sections teetering on their hinges and then toppling to the floor with a loud crash. Elcazor smirked arrogantly, de-igniting the rapier.

The red Reploid's eyes were alive with anger. His left hand morphed into a buster quickly, the energy gathering at the tip as he began charging. He hefted up his shield and activated the thrusters in his boots. He drove through the broken down door, the shield meeting head on with the attacking Maverick, his whole body being caught by the shield and thrown halfway down the hallway. The red Reploid stopped, aimed with his buster, and fired off a fully charged blast into the soaring Maverick, launching him straight into the far wall, smoke streaming from the hole that was created.

Elcazor grunted from all three impacts; from the shield, the blast, and then the wall. He pushed himself to his feet, wiping the bust off of his armor. He lifted his head toward the attacking Hunter, his eyes gleaming dangerously.

"You dare challenge me, Elcazor, the most powerful Maverick ever constructed! You shall be put to death for such blasphemy." He was greeted with a small snort, and plasma fire upon his position, "So be it. DIE!"

Elcazor rocketed forward quickly, the purple rapier beam held out from his side as he closed the gap between himself and the red Hunter. He slammed his rapier through the shield, the pin-point beam ripping through the Metool armor, and into the Hunter's gut.

"Ugh.. Metool.. How.."

"Answer your questions on how you died? It would be honorable.. I don't know honor!" He hacked the rapier to the side, cleaving through the shield and Hunter.

He spun around on his foot and hacked through the shield in eight quick cuts, letting it drop to the ground in front of him. The Hunter dropped the shield's grip, letting it fall into the pile. Elcazor swung his rapier for him, but he leaped over Elcazor's attack, landing behind him and firing into his back. Elcazor spun into the shots, taking them in the chest armor, the blasts only scorching the armor.

"You need to learn how to die!"

"I'll get around to that later, Maverick!"

Elcazor growled in anger and ran toward the Hunter. He slammed his shoulder into the Reploid's chest armor, pushing the saber up into his gut and out through the top of his helmet. Both of them coming to a stop. Elcazor leaped back, bringing the saber out with it, cleaving through the Hunter's body. Elcazor watched with a demonic glare as the Reploid exploded in front of him, the helmet landing at his feet.

"Final-**UGH**!"

Another red Reploid stood in the open doorway, this one was more detailed, with a full plate of chest armor, and gold trim lining it, as well as his gauntlets, and the bottom of the upper sections of his boots. The carbon rubber suit underneath was grey, the same color as the bottom sections of his boots. A spike-like design was on the front of his helmet, almost like Proto Man's, but different in a way that made it unique. The lights reflected off his shades slightly, showing the angry glare beneath, "Payback time, Maverick-scum." Smoke was billowing from the end of his buster.

Elcazor snapped his head up and glared at the new Hunter, this one resembled the previous one only in the helmet, everything else was different, except for the buster and the shield leaning against the wall beside him.

"Back already? I was about to throw myself a party!"

Elcazor went to activate his boots, but the Hunter was already upon him, a golden saber gleaming in his right hand. He drove the blade into Elcazor's side as he dashed past. Elcazor gasped in pain, dropping to his knees as plasma fire splashed across his back.

"Having a little trouble there, Maverick? Am I too much for you now?"

The Hunter crossed his arms from his position behind Elcazor. Who was on his knees facing away from him, gasping for breath. He aimed his buster toward the back of Elcazor's head, his eyes slitting slightly, "You don't screw around with Guardians." The half-charged shot exploded against the back of his head, slamming it down into the concrete floor.

Elcazor groaned as he lifted up his head, coolant leaking from his face and side. He pushed himself to his feet, his rapier ignited in his right hand. He turned around and faced the red Hunter, whose buster was always aimed at his face.

"You think you've won?"

"I won before this ever started."

"You Hunter-bastard.."

"Name-calling won't save you from anything."

Elcazor ground his teeth together angrily, his pride had been tarnished from this. And it was beginning to piss him off. He sighed and turned and dashed away from the Hunter, taking his leave from the base.

'_I'll be back for you later..'_

The red Hunter walked back to the door where he shield was setting and gasped, falling to his knees. He grabbed at the front of his chest, a long cut leaking coolant down his front. He closed his eyes and gingerly set his hand over it.

"I tried X.. I tried.."

"I just.. Wasn't.. Made.."

"To be.. A.. Guardian.."

He fell forward on to the ground, his hand still covering the wound, coolant leaking slowly out on to the concrete flooring. His breath came in gasps as he reached his hand for his shield and drew it too him. He would continue to protect his brother even when he was downed.

Within the cold chamber, a pair of jade lights tinted the room a soft green hue. One of the pods had activated, the figure inside was moving. The clamps along the top opened slowly, one after the other, picking up speed between each clamp. As the top set finished, the bottom began, moving at the same speed as the top. As the clamps released, the green paneling evaporated, leaving the figure to walk freely. He opened his eyes, light green ones, and stepped down from the capsule.

He stopped in the doorway to the cold chamber, his blue armor glinting lightly in the light of the damaged hallway. His carbon rubber-suit underneath was a soft golden color. His shoulders were topped with extra armor, squared off like Zero's. His gauntlets had been thickened as well, and his boots too, and the color of his gloves had been changed to a deep purple. Golden trim made 'X's along the bottom of the upper portion of his boot. And three red gems adorned the knees. His chest now had a red gem set in the middle of it. It seemed that while he was deactivated, he had been getting upgraded as well. Dr. Light was a sneaky one, he was.

"You did good, PX.. You did good.."

X crouched down beside the fallen red Hunter, setting his hand lightly on the back of his brother's head. PX moved slightly and pushed himself to his knees, staring up at his awakened brother.

"X.. You're.. Awake.. Why?" X only smirked, setting his hand to his brother's shoulder, "A cry for help from family."

X helped PX get to his feet and carried him into the room, setting him in the pod he had just been in. PX nodded lightly as X activated the pod, the paneling reappeared around the cylinder, the clamps falling back into place. PX shut down his systems and allowed the pod to begin repairing him.

"Take your time, PX.."

Elcazor stopped just outside of the Hunter base, his hand set tight against the wound at his side, the coolant leaking through his fingers. He growled angrily and slammed his free hand into the entrance wall, the part he hit crumbling underneath the unexpected collision.

"Damn that Hunter! **DAMN HIM TO HELL!**"

Elcazor ground his teeth together, his rage overwhelming every other emotion he was capable of. He grabbed his rapier and swung in his left hand, before applying the fine point to the wound at his side, the beam burning the wound closed, stopping the coolant leakage. He deactivated the rapier and growled back at the base, before running off in the darkness toward home.

'_You'll pay for this.. The pain toward my pride will **NOT** go unpunished!'_


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 - Deadly Reactivation**

Alpha gasped loudly, stepping away from the two pods, his eyes widened to the size of dish saucers once more. Bread Man blinked slightly, confused for a moment and then ignited his beam saber, sliding into his battle ready stance, the blade gliding across the metal flooring.

'_Something isn't right here.. They should have come out of the pods.. And their eyes shouldn't be that color..'_

Mr. Death's singular eye had switched on, without his doing. He felt as if his body wasn't his own, and that he were just staring out through eyes, or eye in this case, that didn't belong to him. He felt foreign in his own body. He hoped Franco didn't feel the same way. His body moved on its on as the paneling evaporated around the pod, he had stepped down off the pod. The two Reploids that had activated them were staring at them, in ways which frightened him of himself.

'_Poor Mr. Death..'_

'_What the..'_

'_I love that surprised tone of yours. Give me more of it.'_

'_Who the hell are you? And what are you doing in **MY **body?"_

'_Ha.. Haha.. Hahahaha! Bwuahaha! **YOUR** body? No! It's **MY **body now, Mr. Death! You have **NO** control over anything you do anymore. And to prove it.. Death to these idiotic Hunters.'_

'_Don't do it! NO!'_

The voice was right.. He had no control over anything. With surprising speed, Mr. Death's

buster had formed in his right hand. The Hunter in front of him had his beam sword out and ready. The buster aimed and let rip a single shot. He took the Reploid straight in the chest, smoke billowing from the explosion from the collision.

Franco watched helplessly as his brother; Mr. Death, tried to kill one of the Hunters that had re-activated him. And he was just as helpless inside of his own mind as Mr. Death was.

'_Who the hell do you think you are!'_

'_I'm.. How can I put this easily.. I'm that part of you that always tells you to do the wrong thing, while the good side tells you to be good and righteous and all that nonsense.'_

'_You're my conscience?'_

'_In a manner of speaking.. Now shut up while I kill the other one.'_

'_NO DAMMIT!'_

Franco fought it, and fought it hard. Each step was a struggle for the 'person' controlling his body. And when the hand reached for the saber, the battle was truly waged, with Franco winning over his 'evil side.' The hand fell to his side and Franco's body shut down again, toppling over in front of the shorter Reploid.

'_Damn you Franco..'_

'_Hehe.. To hell with you!'_

The single shot from Mr. Death's buster took Bread Man by surprise, hitting him square in the chest. His chest armor split and cracked from the blast, and it sent him flying backward through the warehouse wall, his body crumpling up against the gravel earth. Alpha shot through the hole after him, activating his beam saber, holding it toward the Maverick Mr. Death.

"Mr. Death! You're a Hunter! Stop trying to kill us!"

'_I hope you're okay Bread.. I don't want to have to carry you back after killing a fellow Hunter, Maverick or not.. And Franco is passed out, or something..'_

"Stop where you are, dammit!" Alpha swung his saber for MD's side, but he didn't stop, and the blade cut into his side, sparks and coolant spraying from the wound. But onward he strode.

'_AHHHH!'_

'_Haha.. I left the pain receptors connected to you, so you could feel the pain.'_

'_Ugh.. Ah.. Ow.. Why are you doing this to me?'_

'_Poor Mr. Death.. Refuses to go down like his name..'_

'_I will not die by you!'_

Bread Man had never felt so much pain before in his life, and it wasn't going away. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, coolant trickling down the front of his chest. He wiped the blood from his lips, shaking his head a little. He got to his feet, holding his chest, his hand blocking up the hole. He blinked slightly as he watched Alpha's saber cut into Mr. Death's side, but the Hunter continued to walk toward him, as if Alpha and his attacks meant nothing to him and never would.

"Alpha!"

Alpha turned and ripped the saber free from Mr. Death's side, who stopped, a visor sliding down over his already covered face, nothing able to be seen through it. Bread Man stared silently at this, trying to remember what it meant. His eyes glanced away from MD, and to Franco who was getting to his feet very slowly. The distinct red glow missing from his eyes this time. Bread Man turned his gaze back in time to feel a piercing pain shooting through his entire body, and then feel nothing.

'_Oh.. No..'_

'_You see Mr. Death.. Look what you've done.. You killed a Hunter. You're now on the top of the list of wanted Mavericks.'_

'_Screw.. You..'_

'_What was that, Maverick?'_

'_SCREW YOU!'_

And so began the mind battle, and so it ended a few seconds later. Mr. Death was a very calm person, but when he was angered, nothing would stand in his way, not even a 'evil' presence in his mind. He had to put a stop to this evil part of him, and he had to do it fast. He dispatched, what he thought, was a virus from his mind, purging his system with a quick reboot.

Alpha stood over the downed Bread Man, tears welling up in his eyes. He blinked them back, swallowing heavily. "Oh Bread Man.." He fell to his knees next to his partner, nothing mattered to him anymore. Both Mr. Death and Franco could double-team him right now and he wouldn't stop them. His long-time partner and friend, Bread Man, was gone. A fist-sized hole went through his entire torso, coolant leaked from the hole and on to the earth. Alpha closed his eyes and lifted Bread Man up, tossing him over his shoulder.

Mr. Death was finally back online, and this time, he was able to control his own functions. Franco walked up next to him, watching the spectacle of Alpha and Bread Man. The red-haired Reploid turned toward the calm Mr. Death, staring at him silently. After a few moments, he spoke, "What the **HELL** was that?"

"I'm guessing we were infected after deactivation. I'm not quite sure though."

".. I was talking about you putting a hole in Bread Man!"

"I wasn't in control of myself, there was.. Something.. Something inside of my mind, controlling me."

"I had the same thing, but it said it was the 'evil side' of my conscience."

"You have an good side?" Franco smirked at him, despite the grave situation, "Apparently so."

"We better go help that Hunter.. He doesn't look big enough to carry him."

Franco nodded and ran after Alpha, Mr. Death following quickly behind him. Alpha's eyes were so blurry from the tears trickling down his cheeks, he didn't know if they had come to help him, or to kill him. And right now, all he cared about was getting Bread Man back to 32 to see if he could be repaired. He knew 32 was built by Bread Man and would be capable of doing such repairs, but he didn't know if he would ever make it there in time.

'_It hurts.. So bad.. This feeling.. Like I'm being torn.. Apart.. My chest hurts.. My power is running low.. But I can't shut down.. Alpha is still stuck with the two Mavericks.. One Maverick now.. Franco is.. Ugh! It hurts.. Must tell Alpha..'_

"Al.. Alph.. Alpha.."

"Bread Man?" Alpha almost dropped his friend from his sudden talking, "Hurr.. Hurry.. To.. 32.. New.. Ar.. Arm.. Armo.." Alpha never heard the rest of it, as Bread Man's eyes dimmed out and his body went completely limp over his shoulder.

"No.. No.. Nonononono! **NO**! **DAMMIT!**"

Alpha fell to his knees, the pain from losing a friend almost too much to bear for him. Bread Man had always been there to get him out of a jam, and the last thing Bread Man had to tell him was something to do with an 'arm' or something of the sort. Alpha couldn't take it anymore. He didn't want to carry the weight of his friend all the way back, but he couldn't leave him there.

'_I was never strong like you, Bread Man.. I was never good enough to be a Hunter.'_

Franco and Mr. Death watched the entire spectacle as Bread Man muttered something into Alpha's ear, and apparently never finished his sentence, because his mouth was still open from the last word that never got out. Franco walked over to Alpha and crouched down beside him, he waited for Alpha to finally notice him before speaking, "I'm sorry about what happened.. But this is no time to cry."

"What would you know? You helped kill him! **AND HE! HE KILLED HIM!**"

Alpha was too his feet quicker than anyone had ever expected. He didn't even bother to ignite his saber, or morph his hand into the buster. He leaped over the crouched Franco and swung his fist for Mr. Death's face, "BAKAPUNCH!" The fist slammed hard into the forehead section of MD's helmet, a crunching sound heard as it bent underneath the pressure.

Mr. Death was forced down into the gravel and then launched backward across the ground. Franco leaped to his feet and grabbed Alpha by the shoulders, holding him back, restraining his arms behind his back, making sure he couldn't morph his hand into a buster, or grab his saber.

Mr. Death pushed himself to his feet, coughing loudly. He reached his hand up and inspected the damage of his helmet, watching Franco struggle to keep Alpha from getting away from him. He shook his head and got to his feet, "I know it's no consolation! But I wasn't in control! I would **NEVER** have attacked a fellow Hunter! Ever! Something was inside of me, keeping my mind from controlling my body. I was ready to be set free and fight Mavericks! Not fight Maverick Hunters!"

Alpha stopped struggling a little quicker than Franco had expected and almost ripped Alpha's arms right out of their shoulders. He let go of Alpha's arms and stepped back slightly, keeping close enough to still be able to grab the enraged Hunter, if he tried anything. Alpha closed his eyes and breathed heavily, shaking his entire body.

"Franco.. Grab Bread Man. We have to get back to the base. Mr. Death.. You stay away from me." Franco nodded and hefted Bread Man's limp form up on to his shoulders, while Mr. Death walked behind Franco, "Yes'ir."

The three headed back to the base, their stride slower than normal, so they didn't lose Franco half way through the journey from his extra weight. Alpha had to stay calm and coordinated.

'_Be like Bread Man, Alpha.. Be like Bread Man.. Calm and strong..'_


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 - Something Always Goes Wrong**

32 awoke with a start, the green hued light filtering through his shades, displaying his eyes clearly against the backdrop of green. His mind was racing quickly within his head, and was creating a light throb at his temple. He had felt something, a deep ache deep within the core of his body, something bad had happened and he didn't know what. And when he didn't know something, it always had a bad outcome. He deactivated the paneling to his recharge pod by placing his hand flat against it, making it evaporate. He jumped from the pod and ran from his room, quickly turning down the hallway and entering into his lab.

'_I need to check up on Alpha and Bread Man.. Hopefully they're okay. And Fidget too.'_

He slipped down into his lab chair and wheeled it over to one of the side monitors, his fingers working on the keys rather quickly, bringing up a map of the city they were located in. He accessed the base's radar and quickly mapped out the sections of the city. He inserted the transmitter codes of the three missing Hunters. Two red 'blips' appeared on the screen, neither were close to one another. He stared silently at the screen for a moment.

'_Fidget is alive.. He's the closest to the base. That means.. Either Alpha or Bread Man are dead..'_

He sighed heavily and increased the power of the transmitters, none of them would notice the change, only the radar would be able to pick it up. About the two 'blips', two fainter ones accompanied both of them. 32 turned as he heard footsteps coming down the hallway and Anode appeared in the doorway. Anode noticed the strained look on 32's face and thinned his lips a little, "What's going on?"

"We've lost a Hunter." 32 replied, turning his attention back to the screen. "Do you know who it is yet?"

"It's either Alpha or Bread Man." Anode stood at the monitor next to 32's, and he quickly began searching through the Hunter Archives. "Fidget was in X's group right? The 17th unit?"

"That's right. What are you looking for?"

Anode glanced up at the screen and pointed to the 'blip' closest to their position. He then touched the two fainter marks on either side, both radiating a light blue to show that they hadn't been coded up to appear clearly on the radar. "This is Fidget, meaning he's either being attacked, or he's found someone to help. I'm going to check the other members of his team and see if they are the ones with him."

32 nodded and waited for Anode to finish his search. Anode pulled up the 17th Unit's stat sheet and it displayed five profiles on the page. At the top left was X's, displaying him as the leader and commanding officer. Next to him was a picture of Fidget's, and all his statistics as a Hunter. Along the bottom half of the screen were three other pictures; Orichalcon, Bleu, and the last one was blanked out. Anode got the codes for both Bleu and Orichalcon and read them off to 32, who inputted them. The two 'blips' beside Fidget's flared red and displayed the three of them. Anode smirked a little, "Check their status. Fidget has been online as long as we have, if he didn't recharge, he's probably offline."

32 worked his fingers over the keys, all three of those 'blips' painting themselves a neon green, displaying that they were, in fact, all recharging. 32 sighed softly and then the realization of that fact hit both of them simultaneously.

"No one is guarding them."

"Activate the sonar. Just one wave."

"No. The sonar scrambles the pods, and anything inside."

"It doesn't matter, 32. We'll fix them when we get back, if we don't activate the sonar, who knows what might be coming after them! We have to find out!" Anode was stressing his point severely.

"One wave! Just one!" 32 had to give in, he had to know.

32's fingers tapped in three codes straight in order. The first code told the radar to activate the sonar, the second code told the sonar to begin charging, and the third code told the sonar to release a single sonar wave across the city. As the wave progressed across the town, black 'blips' begin splattering across the screen, a massive multitude of them were everywhere. Anode sighed heavily and turned toward 32, who nodded, "Anode, wake up everyone here. Send out Panic and Piro to get Fidget. You go with AX and find out if it's Alpha or Bread Man that we've lost. Get Lizzy to go check up on Shift and Faern."

"Right away 32.. But what about you? Are you sure you're going to be able to take them all?"

"It's not in me to quit halfway. I'll stop them. Even if it means.. Doing certain things.." 32 turned to look at the screen faintly, his mind elsewhere.

"Activate X and Axl." 32 twisted back to look up at Anode and shook his head, "X isn't ready yet, the system is still re-calibrating him to the new settings I put in yesterday."

"It doesn't matter. Let it finish and then get him out, it shouldn't take too long, should it? Make the computer auto-activate him. And get Axl out as soon as we leave. But what about Enzan?"

"I'll keep him safe. You need to go now. You won't be able to make it all the way to them if you wait any longer." Anode nodded and left the room.

32 pushed away from the monitor displaying the map of the city, allowing his eyes to move to the schematics of Axl. He tapped a few keys, checking to make sure he had inserted everything correctly.

Anode ran into the hallway and entered into Panic's room. He switched off the tank, forcing Panic to reactivate. Panic stared at Anode's face as his eyes opened from his rejuvenating sleep.

"Go and get Piro. And then leave quickly. Find Fidget, keep him safe. We have major Mav-activity."

Anode left the room as quick as he had come and ran down the hallway to AX's room and entered it without a care. He slammed his fist against the glass, and AX's eyes flicked open, the pod deactivating before Anode's eyes. AX stepped down and stood face-to-face with his team-mate. "What's going on?"

"Major activity. We are to go and rescue Alpha and Bread Man.. Or whichever is alive." AX perked a brow, "What happened?"

"I'll explain later! You go and get the kid and bring him to 32, I have to go and get Lizzy!" And with that Anode left AX's room. AX glanced over at the Light pod on the other side of the room and then quickly ran after him.

Panic grabbed his helmet and strapped it on over his head, latching it shut. He ran from his room, rounded the corner and entered into Piro's room, tapping on the glass to get the sleeping Reploid's attention. Piro's eyes stayed closed, but the pod deactivated and he stepped down from it, opening his eyes to stare up at Panic, "We going somewhere?"

"Yea. We're going out to find Fidget and keep him alive." Piro nodded, "Let's go then."

The two ran from Piro's room, rounded a corner and sprinted up the stairs to the entrance of the base. Piro took point, knowing about Panic's core problems when over-exerted. Panic snatched his beam saber hilt from his waist and followed after Piro. The two exited the base at a quick pace, running back the way they had come when they battled with the twin D-1000's.

Lizzy sprang up from her position on the floor, a tool hanging from her mouth, the broken baton falling to the floor in front of her. She opened the door, glaring up at Anode, speaking around the sparking tool, "What!"

"You have a job to do, finish up as quick as you can and then head to these coordinates."

'_Whatev..'_

Anode slipped her a piece of paper and then ran back to where AX is waiting near the stairs. The two sprint up the stairs and out of her line of vision. She walked back into her room and grabbed her chest armor, pulling it down over her silver carbon suit, resting on top of her body perfectly. She snatched up her broken baton and fixed it as she walked out of the base, inserting the coordinates into her memory bank, letting the paper fall to the ground.

32 ran through the codes that needed to be used to activate his specifically made pods. He got to the last code for Axl's pod and inserted it, but the screen flashed red, displaying erroneous messages all along the screen.

'_It's his Copy Shot.. Something is malfunctioning in it.. Dammit.. I guess he won't be getting activated today.'_

32 studied the schematics of Axl's Copy Shot, sighing as he inserting a few changes, expanding the amount of energy used in order to copy his opponent. He began the processes of fixing Axl, then kicked the ground, sliding over to the computer with X's data on it. He inserted the codes one at a time, working quickly. He glanced up at the computer screen where Enzan was still sleeping against the floor.

'_Wake up, Enzan.. Now.'_

Enzan shifted slightly, the sound of running metal feet disturbing his sleep. He stretched out against the wall and then pushed himself to his feet. He set his hand to his ear and re-activated the comm. link between him and 32, "About time."

"Sleepy time is good for me, hush."

"Get to my lab immediately."

"Got it."

Enzan grabbed up his flashlight and took off running down the hallway he had just come from, taking a different turn as last time, completely bypassing the big silver door, that was no longer there due to Elcazor. Enzan would make sure to swing by that a little later and check it out again.

'_Something is up with that door.. And I **WILL** find out what.'_

32 stepped into the Stasis Chamber off to the side of his lab, making sure that Enzan was coming back to the lab and not getting lost. The last code had been entered and X was ready to be activated. 32 stepped up to the pod and set his hand against it, "Activate 32R-Unit X1." The pod accepted his voice command and the clamps along the top and bottom of the pod began to undo themselves and the panels evaporated after the last clamp undid. X1's eyes flashed open, but they weren't their normal green.

"What th-**URK**!"

X1 lunged forward, a dark energy swirling up around his form, as he grabbed 32 by the neck, lifting him up off the ground. 32 gasped sharply, trying to grab for his hammer leaning against the wall, but X1 formed his right hand into a buster and set it flat against 32's head.

"I really don't think that's such a good idea.."

Fidget's eyes flashed open and he threw himself against the paneling of the pod, his head was screaming at him in pain, sparks flew from the top of the pod and from his helmet. The paneling around the pod broke and shattered across the floor and he landed against the ground, ripping his helmet off and throwing it across the floor. Seconds later, both Orichalcon and Bleu did the same, but they kept their helmets on.

"Ugh.."

"What.."

"Are you two okay?"

Bleu wiped tears of pain from her eyes and nodded, while Orichalcon got to his feet and retrieved Fidget's helmet, returning it to him. He replaced it back on top of his head and pushed himself to his feet. They both helped Bleu up, and she dusted herself off.

"That felt like a sonar.." Orichalcon perked a brow, "Why would someone set one off?"

"Something's brewing.. Something big. And something bad."

'_Hopefully it has nothing to do with me.. 'Cause this is **NOT** turning out to be a good day already.'_


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 - Things Get Haywire**

Sherrie's right hand was playing with her curly brown hair, her left hand tapping lightly against the desk. She had been there longer than she should have been, neither the Vice President, nor her replacement had showed up yet, and she was beginning to get bored, and tired as well.

'_President Goompas' files are never going to get done at this rate.'_

She sat back in her brown chair, moving her left hand from the desk to the computer keyboard, typing in a few things here and there, organizing random files and deleting unnecessary government documents, like the President's resume and the VP's folder of.. Explicit pictures.

'_These two are horrible.'_

Cicero snatched his comb up and pulled it through his dark brown hair slowly, nodding at the handsome face in the mirror. He tossed the comb into the passenger seat of his hover-car, before opening his door and stepping out on to concrete parking way. He closed his door and locked it with a voice command. He strolled into the building, a slight swagger to his step, his hazel eyes almost sparkling in the sunlight.

"Good morning Sherrie." The receptionist only scoffed and threw a folder at him, "The President wants you to sort through that and finish all the documents on his desk."

"Right-o."

Cicero set his hand on the golden doorknob and pushed it down, entering into Goompas' office. He stopped and gaped a little at the stacks of papers upon the President's big mahogany desk.

'_Oh.. Well.. Dammit.'_

Doctor Raijouta stood at the head of the lab table containing the leader to the Wandering Souls group. Dynamo laid before him, his chest opening up and multiple wires unattached. He sighed a little, assigning two other scientists to finish coupling the wires together. He strolled away from Dynamo and stopped at another table. This table had Forte atop it, already completed, just waiting to be activated.

"As soon as we finish Dynamo, activate Forte and get him online, got it?" The three scientists nodded their heads in unison, then went back to checking their data to make sure it was correct.

Raijouta made his way around the room to each table containing the remaining three members of the Wandering Souls; Storm Eagle, Flame Stag, and Slash Beast. All three of them were in the same state of Forte, complete just still inactive. He told the doctors at each table the same thing as the ones at Forte's table, activate them as soon as Dynamo was online. Raijouta then strolled over to where Andehshun, Malone, and Stabler were working, half of the table covered in random parts, the other containing a half-built chest and a head.

"What is this you are making, Dr. Andehshun?" Raijouta asked, slightly perplexed at all the random devices strewn across the table.

"It's of no concern to you, Raijouta.." Malone snapped, a pair of electric scissors in his hand as he clipped a few wires, and Stabler rerouted them to where they should go.

Andehshun smirked a little and added the finished touches to the face mask, the silver metal contoured to Paragon's face perfectly. He quickly clasped the face mask on and grabbed a sheet of dense black sheeting. He began forming it to fit over Paragon's eyes and attach up into the helmet. He slid the opaque sheet up over Paragon's closed eyes and attached it into the helmet, making it tight. Stabler pushed the gem set into the middle of Paragon's forehead and the shades flashed, schematic readouts running down the shades, then flashing away as he repressed the button.

"It's working perfectly, Andehshun." Stabler commented, and Andehshun only smiled.

Raijouta slit his eyes and a little and then turned his back on the three expert Roboticists, returning to the table that held Dynamo atop of it. The five scientists around the table were scrambling for certain tools all at once, working at a hurried pace. Raijouta stood at the end of the table and watched them work, each adding on a new piece to the arms and legs. One doctor out of the five was working quickly on the chest panel, attaching four wires at once and then rerouting them to the power core channel.

'_He's almost done..'_ Those thoughts were in both Raijouta's head, as well as Andehshun's, as they both worked on their projects.

Faern was slowly rubbing his fingers into his temples as Shift tried to reason with Mega Man. Blues said nothing, only stood off to the side, his eyes slowly moving back and forth between Shift and Mega Man as they talked.

"This isn't about fighting, Mega Man. This is about living and saving people!"

"Fighting is involved. I've been doing that my entire life. Fighting."

"You saved millions of people by doing it!"

"And in the end they all died anyway."

"You're thinking about this the wrong way, Mega Man."

"It doesn't matter.. I've fought for too long and everything I fought for is gone. I have nothing. I won't go on fighting in **YOUR** blasted war! Do this one on your own!"

Shift couldn't win this argument and he knew it. He stared at the floor for a moment and then glanced over at Blues, who was staring at him silently. Blues nodded a little and turned and walked over to Mega Man, speaking silently to him, neither Shift nor Faern could pick it up.

"Mega.. You don't have to fight anymore."

"I don't plan to."

"At least help them though.. Help them rebuild everything you worked so hard to protect. Help protect people again."

"How?"

"Teach." Mega Man perked a brow at that and shook his head a little, "Teach what?"

"Teach newly built Reploids how to fight, how to protect, how to survive."

"... I can do that." Blues nodded, "That's the brother I knew."

'_I hope Blues knows what he's doing.. Mega Man would be a great asset, maybe Blues can get him to change his mind.'_

Faern looked over at Shift as Blues turned back around and walked over to Shift, standing a few feet in front of him. Mega Man turned and walked over to stand beside his brother, their red and blue metals contrasting strongly to one another. Blues locked eyes with Shift as he spoke, "He's not going to help you fight."

"Bu-" Blues cut Shift off quickly, "But he will help you."

"How?" Blues turned his gaze toward Faern, "He'll train all the Reploids you build how to fight. If they need it, of course."

"And what will you do, Blues?" Blues returned his gaze to Shift, who took a step toward the red Reploid, "I have a buster, it was made for fighting, that's how it will be used."

Cicero snatched up a stack of folders and took them into his office, which was connected to one side of the President's office. He dropped the stack on to his desk and began sifting through the folders, tossing important ones into the middle of his desk and tossing the rest out into the middle of his chambers.

'_What are all these things about, anyway?'_

Cicero grabbed a random folder from the stack and flipped it open, reading through it quickly. He blinked a few times and reread the title, his eyes widening. The title read clearly, in big bold black letters, **'Mavericks'**.

Mega Man stared at Blues' back as he spoke to Shift. He slipped his left hand down underneath the gauntlet of his right hand, hoping that they had followed his designs perfectly. He smiled to himself as he pushed his forefinger into the small button there.

Duo leaned against the massive concrete wall, his massive hand wringing his normal one, sighing heavily. It had been days since he had done anything important in the universe and he was getting rather bored of no work. He jerked slightly as a small ringing went off in his ear.

'_Mega Man's signal?'_

Right after he disabled the ringing in his ears, someone came running up to him. The young lady robot handed off a sheet of paper the color of teal to him and then ran back the way she had come. Duo's eyes scanned down the sheet slowly, gritting his teeth sharply.

'_First Mega Man is reactivated.. And then a report of Dark Energy on Earth.. Something is up. And I'm going to go find out.'_

Duo crunched the paper up within his massive hand, dropping the wad of paper to the ground. He ran off to the air-bay, where he would be leaving in the quickest ship they had available. He just hoped he made it to Earth before anything extremely wrong happened there.

Lizzy growled as she spun around on her heel, the beam axe sawing through multiple Joe's at once, what was left of them exploding in her aftermath. She leaped over an incoming plasma shot and cleaved both sides of her axe down through the Grenadier's body, dashing forward as it exploded.

'_Most excitement I've had in a while. I **LOVE** my job!'_

"Haha! Bring it on Maverick-scum! I got enough femme-angst to go around!"

The sounds of explosion came to all ears as Lizzy slammed through the front door, rolling through the doorway, her buster out, unleashing multiple waves of plasma into oncoming Repliroids. Shift and Blues both dashed over to her, Blues dragging her into the room. Shift leaped over Lizzy and her axe, landing in the doorway and forming a buster, firing off a few rounds before slamming closed the door and setting himself against it.

"Hi Lizzy." Lizzy stared at the silver Reploid for a moment, then smirked, "So.. Shift lives."

"Wanna tell us what's going on?" Lizzy stared at the red Reploid with its hands on her, "Wanna stop touching me, pervert?"

Blues' face flushed slightly as he let go of her and stepped away, allowing Lizzy to get to her feet. She dusted herself off, flicked her hair out of her face and gave an evil grin, "I've come to save your sorry butts."

"Has Sebastian really come **THAT **far along already?" Lizzy turned to Faern, "You must be Faern. And yes, he has.. Obviously. Unless he's getting help from someone."

Shift liquified himself and pasted himself like a massive trampoline over the doorway, each slam from the Mavericks causing his body to jerk inward a little. His head appeared near the middle, "As soon as I let go, attack them. We can't let them in here." Lizzy and Blues both nodded, Lizzy morphed her hand back into her buster, wielding her axe with her right hand. Blues morphed his hand into his buster as well, picking his shield up off his lab table and standing next to Lizzy, awaiting Shift's release. Mega Man stood there at the back of the room, watching them, unable to bring himself to help them.

'_I hope I'm doing the right thing by refusing to help them fight.. I've done enough on my own, I can't be deemed responsible for the future's actions.'_

Sebastian sat in his lab chair, his eyes on the computer screen in front of him. He had enough money stored away to buy out an old factor in disrepair and bring it up to par for what he wanted to do. The factory itself was now mass-producing multiple types of Reploids all at once. From Met's and Joe's to Quaker's and Crusher's.

'_This new era has yet to begin, Faern.. Do you think you can keep up with me now?'_

Sebastian glanced over at the table where Shoryu was finally beginning to awaken, his arm rebuilt, as well as a few new things added in to make sure he didn't lose anything else in battle. Sebastian turned back to the screen, looking through the eyes of his Cam-Bots. His mind was wandering on to other things, when Elcazor slammed through the front door, walking over to the table and pushing himself up on to it, growling angrily.

"Fix me, now. I have unfinished business to attend to." Sebastian sighed heavily, "Both of you are going to be the death of me, I swear. First missions and you were both injured. It's going to be a long day.."


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 - The Darkness Grows**

A mysterious purple glow filtered throughout the room slowly, tentacles beginning to sprout along it and expand outward across the room. The tentacles wrapped around a Reploid laying atop a small metal bench, the energy within the tentacles beginning to spill slowly into the black Reploid.

"Hss... Climax.." The black Reploid began to glow a deep purple and then shot straight upward, his body turning.

He dropped back down the table, the purple glowing filtering around his form and then dispersing inside of him, the deep red flare of his eyes lessened and then finally dispersed as well. Climax turned to the glowing purple orb and took a step back with one foot, staring silently toward it.

"Yesss Climax.. Missss.. me?" Climax swallowed heavily, replying as steady as he could, "Yes master.. But I thought you died.."

"You.. Should know better.. Than that, Climax.." Climax nodded lightly, "Of course, master."

The tentacles billowed back into the floating purple orb, letting Climax relax slightly, but he made sure not to show it outwardly. The glowing purple orb filtered through the air and bobbed in front of Climax a little.

"You.. Have a job.."

"What must I do?"

"Minionsss.. And.. A new body.. For me.."

"Yes, of course.."

Climax bowed and leaped from the metal table, the orb swiftly evading Climax's form as it came down. He wove itself in the air for a moment as Climax made his way from the worn down warehouse, his eyes glancing back slightly.

'_I can't believe this. I'm back working for my brother.. The glowing purple orb of Doom.'_

Climax leaped from the doorway of the warehouse. The stairs had long since disintegrated and left the doorway over five stores away from the ground. As he neared the ground, he ignited his boot thrusters and swept outward across the ground, missing impact by seconds. He deactivated his boots and began run almost immediately, keeping up his momentum.

'_I know the perfect place to go to find allies. Hopefully they are willing to help someone of almost pure Dark Energy.'_

The female Reploid stood stock-still, surrounded on all sides by upgraded versions of Joe's, each one carrying a shield and twin busters. Her black lips curled up slightly as she grinning, twin beam axes igniting in her hands, green like the gems on her gauntlets, with black handles and silver accents strewn along it. She flowed easily, both blades blazing around her as she went to work, doing what she had always done best; killing things.

Climax stood at the corner edge of a building, the sound of a battle raging caught his attention halfway down the road he had bee running. He glanced around the corner, scanning ahead with his eyes. He jerked behind the wall as a he severed Joe head bounced along the road. He smirked a little, shaking his head as he stepped out from around the wall, walking toward the female slayer.

She spun around a final time, cleaving apart the last two Joe's, sending their bodies in opposite directions, her eyes gleaming dangerously as she deactivated the two axes, watching as Climax approached her from where he had been hiding. She watched him stop in front of her, the sunlight glinting off the green gems on her gauntlets and in her hair.

"Hello Lull.. Nice to see your axes still have their pleasant lullaby."

"..."

"Right.. I have a proposition for you."

Lull perked a brow and slid her twin axe hilts away, following after Climax as he turned away from her. Climax followed down the road they were on and turned to the right, with Lull close behind him, eyeing the black Reploid with some suspicion.

A large eruption tore through the roof of the small building, a group of Mets disintegrating into the air as they flew. The silver Reploid drew back his fist and slammed it through the lens and entire body of the Tracker, tearing its insides out. He leapt into the air, be swallowed up by a swarm of Flies. He growled angrily and spun around, a blade of silver energy ripping through the horde. He landed, dashing forward, drawing the saber up along the ground, taking apart a Spincutter with one blow, the remainder of the enemies began withdrawing. The Reploid watched them leave, and then watched them all explode just outside the building. He walked over to the door and watched Climax appear with a female Reploid. He smirked a little.

"Who's the chick?"

"Shut up Dark Squall. Come with us, I have a job for the two of you, but only after we get one other."

Dark Squall nodded, flicking his fiery red hair back over his shoulder, following after the pair. He flicked off his saber, the silver blade dying and pulling back into the blade. He set it back into its place, his silver armor gleaming alongside Lull's silver and Climax's black.

Flagpole's red, white, and blue armor flashed in the light, his fists enlarging to twice their normal size as he punched through the oncoming laser, the blast splashing over his armor as he dashed forward, returning his fists to normal size. He leapt over the next blast and landed behind the Walking Cannon, spinning on his right heel and slamming his fist down through the machine's entirety, ripping it apart with his bare hands. He threw the spare parts away from him, sighing heavily.

'_I get stuck in the middle of a western showdown with a Walking Cannon while Blue is off doing.. Who knows what. This is great.. Just great.'_

A small Reploid leapt around the street, its purple saber striking down each Maverick Bird as it tried to cut her down in the air, or while she was on the ground, for the small amount of seconds she ever **WAS** on the ground. She leapt up once more, spinning around in a quick circle, cutting through the last pair of green Maverick Birds as they passed at the same moment, twin simultaneous explosions occurring on either side of her. She grinned gleefully, leaping into the air once more.

"Hey CN." She glanced toward who talked to her.

"Hi Climax, and Lull. Who is that?"

"This i-" Dark Squall cut him off, "The name is Dark Squall."

"Ah."

"I have a job of the three of you.. My master is back.." The three all stared at him for a moment.

"Ragnarok."

Cicero was getting sick of all this paper work, especially since none of it was his. Every five or ten minutes, he lost count, Sherrie would drop another stack of folders next to his door, and soon it was getting out of control. He decided it was time to fix this.

"Sherrie. Can you come in here please?"

"One moment."

"No. Now."

"Hmph.. Fine."

Sherrie walked into the room, throwing a few folders on to the already growing stack of multi-colored folders. She looked displeased with him, but then again, that wasn't anything new. She was always mad at him. He stared up at her, signing the bottom of the last important folder on his desk, tossing it with the rest of them.

"Wake up the president."

"No."

"Do it."

"I don't have to listen to you." And with that the receptionist strolled from the room, leaving Cicero to grind his teeth together angrily.

'_Damn! Damn! Damn! I'm tired of doing all of this work by myself. If she won't wake him up, I'll do it myself.'_

Ragnarok lashed its tentacles out across the room, watching on to the head of an old Reploid, drawing it in. The energy was still present inside of this one, so he began converting it, slowly, sucking the last remnants of energy into himself, sealing it away as Dark Energy. He would have sighed, if it were possible for a purple orb to sigh.

'_Climax.. I hope your decisions.. Are better than the ones.. You've made in the past.'_

Blue was quicker than the group of Joe's on rider chasers thought he was. He waited for them to pass him before he bolted, catching up to them easily. He morphed both of his hands into busters and destroyed the two Joe's in the back, leaping up on to the two chasers, using them as a pair of hover skis. He began charging both busters at once, waiting for a moment, before firing both blasts simultaneously blowing out the thrusters of the other chasers, leaping down and landing on the broken chasers, blowing the heads of the Joe's off with low-powered shots. He smirked as he ran ahead and fired medium-sized blasts into the bikes, all four exploding as they reached him.

"Hehe. Don't underestimate the power of Blue." He turned and looked around him, studying his surroundings for a moment.

'_No sign of Flagpole. I need to find that size-shifting bastard before he gets himself into trouble.'_

Cicero pushed open the door to the President's rest room and slammed his foot into the end of the bed, jerking Goompas awake. He groaned and stared up at Cicero's face through sleep-glazed eyes.

"Wha' y'u wan'?" Cicero snickered a little.

"Wake up President Goompas. I'm not going to do all your damn files for you."

"Ugh.. Fine, fine.."

Goompas pushed himself up out of his bed and grabbed his tie and tied it back on around the collar of his shirt. He pulled the lapel down over the red tie, stuffing it down into his shirt. He snatched his shades up and placed them on to his face, nodding to Cicero as they both left the room. They began splitting the folders in half once they reached Cicero's office, making sure that Goompas got all the more important files.

'_I wouldn't want Cicero to discover that the Government was rebuilding Reploids..'_

Duo's ship rocketed through space quickly, his massive form squeezed into the fastest, yet smallest ship that he was capable of getting into. He shifted a little to get more comfortable in the tight ship, sighing heavily. His scanner placed on Earth was picking up more traces of Dark Energy in different sections of the world. He would be in for more than he would be capable of dealing with on this one.

'_If I get into more than I can chew, I'll call in for back-up.. Hopefully they make it there in time to keep me from getting killed. Hopefully..'_

Climax re-entered the warehouse that he had been in when awakened. Lull, Dark Squall, and CN all followed in closely behind him, all expecting something different than what they encountered. Climax strode across the room and stood beneath the glowing purple orb, which began unleashing tentacles, pulling the three Reploids into the room and keeping them from leaving.

"Welcome.. Minionsss.."

"This.. Is Ragnarok.. For now anyway." Climax grinned darkly as the purple energy began to spiral around the room about the five of them.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17 - Arrival Of Angst**

Anode and AX were traveling rather quickly along the roadways, their foot thrusters creating slight crevices in the earth. They had been gone from the base for only five minutes, and they were about a half hour away from where they had to be. They had to book it to get where they needed to be. Anode glanced over at AX, who nodded to him.

"AX, despite what we see, keep your cool when we get there, you understand me?"

"Of course, Anode. But what will I be seeing?"

"Hopefully nothing." AX stared at his partner for a moment, then shook his head and sunk a little lower to the ground, increasing the power input to his boot thrusters.

'_Anode has been acting strange since we left.. I wonder what's really going on. Something big, if he doesn't want me to lose my cool. Usually he doesn't care..'_

Anode noticed AX's power increase and settled in off to the side of him and behind, making sure AX's dust wake didn't cover him, like it would have if he were directly behind him. Anode closed his eyes, guiding himself on the sounds of AX's thrusters.

'_... I can't tell him. Either way this turns out, if it's Alpha or it's Bread Man.. AX isn't going to be able to control himself, I know him too well to believe that he would.'_

Piro lead Panic down the same road that they had been on the day before, both of them noticing where they had fallen to the Maverick that had attacked them. Both of them had been, in the end, jolted with volts of electricity at close range, and it had hurt them. Panic ran his fingers over his chest, where the scorch mark still was. Panic glanced ahead at Piro, shaking his head a little.

"That Maverick.."

"Yeah, I know. He was a dirty fighter."

"And cheap. Getting me over the overhand of a building."

"And dodging all my shots." Panic smirked, "Someone needs to get better aim is all."

"At least I **TRIED **to hit him, Mr. Out-In-One-Shot." Panic scoffed.

Piro sighed heavily and snatched his rifle from off his back, spinning it around in one hand. He turned his head to look back at Panic, who slipped his beam saber from its holster, igniting it and drawing the blade through the air.

"Panic, I'm going up. You stay down and keep going. Don't try and keep up. Meet at the battle site."

"You got it, Piro."

And Piro leapt up the side of a building, his boots breaking through the concrete in multiple places, causing that side of the building to crumble and fall. He easily made it from the falling building to the next without being in any imminent danger. Panic smirked and continued along the road, making his saber dance along the air slowly.

Anode and AX journey is brought to a hold, as they cut the power to their thrusters and slip to a stop, before a group of Mavericks. Anode quickly activated his dual-edged saber and leapt forward, spinning the saber around and cutting down a pair of Crushers, their spiked bottoms dropping and crashing into the ground, just as AX dashed past, his hand morphing into his normal buster.

"Anode!"

"I see the D-1000. Take out the weak ones first, then the big one!"

AX wove his body in and out between the holes of the Maverick Worms that began to tear through the surface. He spun around, cutting his dash off and sliding to a stop, firing off a volley of shots into the group of worms, their explodes making the holes bigger in the ground. Anode landed beside AX, his buster forming and firing off a medium size blast of plasma through an oncoming Crusher, blowing the shrapnel into the face of the D-1000.

"This is going to suck."

"Yup."

Something crept out from a dark alleyway, tentacles waving around aimlessly. It floated close to the ground, mere inches away from touching, but it never did. It's body was a hovering mass of tentacle and virus, and it was out for Reploid as its next meal. It wiggled its body forward slowly, the tentacles dragging across the wall, leaving an acidic liquid upon the wall, that immediately began to melt through the thick concrete and metal sheeting of the building.

AX spun around on the ground, using his saber to clip the spiked bottom of a Crusher, while Anode kicked off the face of another one and splitting the bottomless Crusher in half, the explosion propelling him upward. Anode drew his saber back and came hurtling down quickly, he swung the saber quickly, dealing the D-1000 a deadly cut to its massive face, tearing through the metal easily. AX followed up by leaping upward in a spiral motion, his saber following along a path parallel to that of Anode's and searing another gash into the massive Reploid's metal face.

"Want the honor, Anode?"

"I insist that you do it this time."

"Of course, milord." Anode smirked a little as AX bowed.

Anode turned and fired his buster straight into the fleeing form of the last Crusher, its body melting in the flash of plasma that flew into it and through it. As Anode did that, AX had activated his own special feature, the AX Drive. A azure visor slid down over his eyes, covering part of his face with a soft blue hue. The thrusters in his boots kicked in sharply and the dust on the ground flew up like a grenade blast. AX's form was a blur to Anode's eyes as the glowing blue saber was re-ignited and sent up through the bottom of the D-1000 countless times, each hole sparking loudly. AX appeared beside Anode, his AX Drive now deactivated, and the two watched as the massive Reploid sparked all along its surface and then tore in half, both pieces exploding loudly, a mushroom shaped cloud filtering upward into the air.

"Well, that was rather interesting," Anode noted, watching the cloud disperse into the sky.

"Why was it such a small force anyway?" AX turned to look at Anode, who uncrossed his arms, shrugging at the question, "Who knows, AX. But we need to be going."

"Right."

The two turned and were about to activate their dash boosters, when something like a mass of tentacles appeared from the darkened alley across the road. Anode squinted slightly, sighing a little as he drew out his saber once more. He glanced to AX, who did the same, sighing lightly as well.

"Guess we're not done quite yet, eh?"

"Let's get this over with quick."

The mass of tentacles crept forward at a much quicker pace than before. It had detected Reploids in the area and had forced its quivering mass to increase speed to get there before they got away. And to its luck, something had been there to incapacitate the two Reploids long enough for its arrival. A pair of lidless eyes stared at the two Reploids, one of a azure and silver color, the other of a onyx and smog color. It released its tentacles and sent them blazing toward its soon-to-be victims.

AX and Anode both dove to the side, opposite one another. AX saber had yet to be activated, and as he rolled to his feet, it was glowing brightly in his right hand. He dashed forward, the saber blazing up and out through the mass of tentacles, cleaving straight through its entire body. He watched the thing split apart and fall to the ground, quivering for a moment, before it ceased movement.

"Heh.. That was easy." AX turned and smirked at Anode, when something curled around his leg and held tightly, "The hell!?"

The two halves had reconstructed themselves into two new beings. Anode ran forward, his saber running straight through the 'helmet' of the mass of tentacles. AX stabbed through the tentacle wrapped around his leg and leapt away, growling angrily.

"Anode! Don't let it touch you. It releases acid!" Anode whipped his saber around in a spin, clipping through each tentacle sent at him, "Thanks for the warning, AX."

AX set his saber into its holster and morphed his right hand into a buster, glaring at the wiggling mass of tentacles coming toward him. He dashed straight at it, and as it released its tentacles toward him, he leapt upward, aiming his buster downward as he soared over it, he let lose a single charge shot, that took the being by surprise, vaporizing it within the plasma. The 'helmet' toppled to the ground, making soft 'tink' noises as it rolled around to a stop. AX slammed his foot down on top of it, crushing it into the ground. He turned his attention to Anode, who cleaved his in half, morphing his hand into a buster, vaporizing both sides with a single medium-shot. He turned and looked at AX, who smirked.

"Well.. That was interesting. I thought those had all been destroyed by X during the Nightmare outbreak."

"Apparently not. Let's get a move on, AX. No time to waste."

AX nodded and they both activated their dash boosters, spitting up the dust and dirt as they sped off down the road. Anode scowled to himself as he remembered having to fight the DNA Thieves during the Nightmare outbreak. AX made a diagnostic scan of his right foot, where the tentacle had wrapped around his leg, melting some of his armor.

'_Gah.. The damn thing almost went all the way through. Glad I got rid of it as quick as I did..'_

Panic glanced to the rooftops, noting that Piro had gotten so far ahead that he was unable to be seen. Panic only shrugged, letting his saber deactivate as he ran his finger along the switch. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going when he stumbled and tripped over something metal. As he flipped over the round object, he rolled to his feet, spinning around to see whatever it was.

"Crawlers?"

Before him were a group of three Crawlers, small bug-like robots that could curl up into balls and roll toward their enemies. They had hard shell-like armor that kept them from being harmed. The only way that they could be hurt was when they lifted the frontal piece of armor from their face and went to attack their opponent. Panic dove to the right, rolled to his feet, and then dove back to the left. He morphed his hand into a buster and sent a wave of plasma into the one Crawler that hadn't come after him, the bullets ripping into the uncovered face. It sparked for a moment and then exploded.

"I hate these things **SO** bad!"

Panic leapt backward as a Crawler came for him, spinning around beneath him and then shooting back at him once he landed. He dove toward the other one, his saber sliding in underneath the closing armor, tearing through the entire body. Panic quickly got to his feet and dashed away as it exploded, the smoke blocking his view of the last Crawler.

"Great.. Now wha-AAH!"

Panic's feet were clipped out from underneath him and he slammed face-first into the ground. The Crawler spun to a stop behind him, its sharp 'teeth' ready to tear into Panic's face mask when he shoved his buster up into its mouth, letting loose a slew of plasma shots straight up into it. The shots exploded out the thick shell on its back, causing it to spark and then explode, straight in Panic's face. He coughed a little, waving the smoke away.

"Ow."

Piro whipped around, the barrel of his rifle set against the ground. He had heard an explosion from where he had left Panic back down on the road. He scowled slightly, but shook his head and turned back the way he had come.

"Panic can take care of himself. He's a high-class Hunter after-all."

He glanced back at the sound of a second and third explosion, a loud thud between them. He turned and walked to the edge of the building he was standing on, waiting for Panic to appear from the smoke-covered road from the three explosions.

'_Dammit Panic.. You better be okay, I don't want your death on my conscience..'_

The sound of flapping wings caught his attention, forcing him to spring away from the side of the building. He flipped his rifle up and shot the Maverick Bird that flew past, ending its existence in a ball of flame and smoke. Three more rushed past, and the sounds of different kinds of wings came to Piro's ears. He turned and watched a small group of Bats come flying down, their metallic jaws gnashing. He crouched down and aimed, firing off three shots in succession, before rolling to the side, taking out one of the Birds with a blast. Two Bats and a Bird ruptured and exploded in air, their smoke curling up and away, random parts of them drifting to the ground,

'_More annoying than a threat, I swear.. Whoever designed them was an idiot.'_

Piro leapt back, dropping his rifle and punching forward quickly, slamming his fist into the beak of the oncoming bird, the connection crumpling the bird up like an accordion, exploding as it hit the ground at his feet. He kicked his rifle up into his hands and took the last Bird out as he took a sharp turn to come back and get him. The Maverick Bird slammed into the building, exploding sharply, the sounds of breaking bricks coming to Piro's attention.

"Ah shit.."

His feet became unsteady as the building began to quiver. He ran toward the edge of the building and leapt high, the building shaking rapidly. The bottom blew out from underneath it and dropped to the ground all at once. The destruction of the building sent up a cloud of dust, leaving Piro's sensors screaming at him for the visibility loss. The ground underneath his feet shifted and he watched a massive fist come down, and take out where he had just standing. He sailed through the air for a moment and landed a few feet away.

"Damn Quakers! Always a problem.."

Panic's dash thrusters were activated, and he was moving rapidly. He sped through the smoke, his saber creating an ominous blue glow within the particles. He drove the saber upward through the purple Reploid just about to slam its fist into the ground for another quake. The ensuing hole and gash sparking loudly as he leapt backward, his hand morphing into a buster and sending a wave of plasma straight into the hole he had made, ripping his internal systems apart. Panic turned and faced Piro as the Quaker exploded loudly behind him.

"Having fun without me, Piro?"

"Oh, of course.."

Fidget walked along slowly, the sounds of a battle reaching all their ears. He sighed a little and drew out his beam spear, activating the end. Bleu morphed her right hand into a buster and slowed down a bit, to get in the back of the fight. Orichalcon's right hand didn't morph, but a small panel slid open, and a laser appeared. Fidget watched this and smirked a little.

"I see you finally got that perfected, Orichalcon. Very nice."

"Nice to see you approve, Fidget."

Fidget turned back to look where they were walking and stopped, his two partners also stopping. Through the smoke two figures appeared, and Fidget laughed and smacked his hands together. Panic and Piro grinned sharply toward their lost friend.

"Hey, Fidget. Did you miss us?" Fidget only laughed, "How could I miss a pair of ugly faces like those?"

AX and Anode had increased the power to their thrusters to almost full capacity. The landscape was a blur of shapes and colors as they swept through the city. Anode tapped his gauntlet and pointed ahead, making a two with his fingers to indicate the time it should take. AX nodded and slid his body down into a more aerodynamic pose, with Anode following his example.

Alpha sighed heavily as he walked ahead of Mr. Death and Franco. Franco shuffled along behind the shorter Hunter, hefting Bread Man around a bit on his shoulder to make himself more comfortable. Mr. Death undid the clasp of his visor and slid it up, letting his eyes show. He gazed at the ground.

"What's that?"

Mr. Death raised his head and looked in the same direction that both Franco and Alpha were staring. Two streams of dust were heading in their direction, at an extremely quick pace. Alpha readied his saber in his right hand, just in case they were hostile. Mr. Death steadied his right arm with his left, his right hand morphed into a buster.

AX and Anode came to a screeching halt. AX's eyes were wider as he saw Bread Man's shattered form laid across Franco's shoulder. Anode turned his head to the side and closed his eyes, silently cursing himself for allowing them to take this mission on.

"What.. What happened?" AX's voice was shaky, but clear.

"We had.. Trouble." AX's eyes met Alpha's and AX asked again, "What happened, Alpha?"

"I killed him." AX's eyes darted to Mr. Death's, anger flooding his eyes, "**HOW DARE YOU**!"

AX leapt over Alpha and was on Mr. Death in a flash, his fist slamming directly into the face mask, shattering the visor covering Mr. Death's eyes. Anode grit his teeth, but he made no move to stop AX from doing this. He had his reasons, AX had been with Bread Man from the beginning, they had fought in multiple battles side by side, this was AX's way of paying tribute to all those years, though Anode highly doubted Bread Man would have wanted him to do it anyway.

"AX.." Alpha stepped away from AX, who was slamming his fist repeatedly straight into Mr. Death's maw.

Franco set Bread Man's limp form on the ground and leaped into the fray, grabbing hold of AX and wrenching him off of his brother-unit. AX lurched back slightly, but sent his elbow straight into Franco's jaw and then spun and hooked him in the cheek, sending him straight into the ground. Mr. Death just closed his eyes and let AX beat him for all he was worth.

AX finally stopped after a full five minutes had passed, his arms were weak and his hands were leaking coolant from the battering. Mr. Death laid a few feet from him, coughing lightly. His helmet was crushed and laid a little bit away from him. Franco went to help Mr. Death to his feet, coolant leaking from his mouth from where AX hit him.

"If.. It means.. Anything AX.. I didn't.. Mean to.." Mr. Death sputtered painfully, clutching his chest with his left hand, his right arm wrapped about Franco's shoulders, who was helping him along.

"Bread Man.. Is gone.." AX fell to his knees finally and just slumped there, despite all the anger he had released on Mr. Death for the death of one of his closest friends, it hadn't help him a bit.

Alpha walked over to where AX was and sat down next to him, setting his hand lightly on AX's back, patting lightly. Anode checked on Mr. Death to make sure he wasn't going to die from this, and nodded as Mr. Death turned out okay. Franco leaned his brother against a wall, and went and retrieved his ruined helmet.

"What a way to start, eh bro?"

"Your humor.. Isn't helping.. This hurts.. A lot.." Mr. Death grit his teeth and pushed himself up the wall.

"They'll forgive you eventually.. And they're going to repair you anyway. Just think of this as a initiation. A painful one."

"Why didn't you get the same one?" Franco gave a grin, "Because my charming good looks saved me, like usual."

Mr. Death laughed lightly, making sure not to laugh too hard that it hurt him. AX got to his feet and walked over to Mr. Death with Alpha and Anode. AX pushed a small capsule into Mr. Death's hand, nodding lightly.

"It's an energy capsule. You'll need it." Mr. Death looked up at AX, and smiled slightly, "Thanks.."


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18 - Rival X's**

32 gasped for air as X1 gripped his throat a littler tighter, his buster still placed against 32's forehead. He snarled and threw 32 into a nearby wall, watching his body slam into it and fall to the floor. He smirked lightly and walked over to the fallen Reploid, keeping his right hand as a buster, he set the barrel back against his forehead, grinning darkly.

"Time to say your prayers.."

X1's charge began to rev up, and the sound of a soft high-pitched whirring noise came from behind him. He turned his head to glance behind him, when he was jerked forward and sent flying into the far side of the room, his body twisting up against the wall.

Enzan pushed himself to run harder through the long corridors, his legs were getting tired fast, but he had to make it back to the lab as quick as he could. The sound of 32's voice when he had contacted him was urgent, or that's how he had taken to be. It was hard for him to tell with these Reploids, who could contract human emotions as easily as any human could. The sound of something extremely heavy coming in contact with a wall came to his ears through the many halls.

'_What could that have been? ... It came from the lab!' _"32!"

Enzan took off at a harder run, pushing himself harder than he'd ever pushed himself before. He had to make it to the lab in time, he didn't know what he might find there, but he had to get there before something serious happened to 32, or the X and Axl clones.

X had reached the lab just in time to save the Reploid scientist from taking a blast to the forehead, and ending what life he had left for him. X's medium-charged blast had done little to effect this.. Clone that was standing front of him.

"Heh.. Hello X." The voice sounded extremely familiar.

"..." The clone smirked a little, "Not going to say hello to poor little X1?"

'_X1.. Light Armor! That's why it looks so familiar.. It was when I first began my life as a Hunter, the first armor I got. That Reploid must have upgraded him to have the Light Armor at the beginning. Ah.. It all makes sense now.'_

"You're just a clone, X1." Which got a snort out of X1.

"I may just be a clone.. But I'm stronger than you'll **EVER** be!"

X1's buster lurched upward, as did X's. The two busters, almost identical in shape and size began to let off soft high-pitched whirring noises. X1 smirked a little, the dark purple helmet gem gleaming ominously, illuminating X's face in the dark purple glow. X thinned his lips, and tried not to notice it, but it was distracting to him.

"X, if you back down.. I won't have to kill you."

"I won't back down to a low-life Maverick version of myself!"

"Maverick? **Maverick?** I'm not a **WEAKLING** like those pitiful virus-infected things you've fought in the past, X! I'm something much more than that!"

Both of their busters began to gleam at the tip, and 32 watched on. He closed his eyes tight. He drew his arms over his chest and head, his left arm overlapping his right arm. The two busters left off at the same moment. X1's blast igniting with a deep purple radiating glow, streaming forth from the end of his buster, while X's blast ruptured forth from the end of his buster in a deep blue hue. The two blasts collided sharply, struggling back and forth with each other, and then they both exploded in upon one another.

The resulting explosion shook through the entire building, multiple beams of energy erupting outward through the roof of the building, tearing holes through the atmosphere and out into space. The ground quivered for a few seconds after the explosion had occurred.

The two teams out in the city all turned their eyes toward the beams of light erupting from the direction of the rubble of the Maverick Hunter HQ, all of their eyes widening incredible at the site of such power being displayed at this point. None of them knew what was going on back at the base, but each and everyone person swore at themselves for not being there to help 32 protect the base from that kind of power.

X fell to his knees, gasping for air, his armor cracked in multiple areas. He glanced up as X1 stood over him, barely damaged at all. X1 morphed his cracked right gauntlet back into a buster and set the end of the barrel to X's forehead. He leaned down and grinned darkly.

"The original X falls to a copy.."

X1 went flying into the sidewall, his body twisting slightly and crunching into the thick concrete and metal plating. He dropped to the ground, turning to stare at 32, who hefted his hammer up on to his right shoulder. 32's left arm, or what was left of it, was sparking at its base, the actual arm was mangled on the floor behind him.

"Sorry X1. But you fail at life."

X1 glared angrily and snarled at 32. He got to his feet and quickly dashed from the room, passing by X's crouched figured. X1 launched himself out in the hallway, his hand morphing into a buster and beginning to charge as quick as he could make it go.

'_This one is stronger than I thought.. X is a weakling now, heh. More fun for me.'_

"Time to die.."

X1 activates his dash and slid back into the lab, plowing his shoulder into 32's chest, sending him back a little. X1 whipped his buster out in front of him and fired, the level two plasma shot connecting straight into 32's gut and sending him flying into the wall, dropping to the floor once more.

'_Too easy.'_

32's nanites activated and swirled around his body. He leapt to his feet, a pair of dark blue wings erupting from his back. His right arm morphed into four busters, all pointing in X1's direction. 32 grit his teeth and began charging the four busters.

"Four? Overcompensating for something?"

"You wish. Now die!"

32's busters all activated at once and X1 turned and dashed from the room. Four waves of energy mixed into one massive energy blast and swept out the doorway to meet X1's fleeing form. 32 only laughed as the explosion rocked the entire building. He dropped down to the ground and his nanites morphed his body back to normal.

X1 leapt backward and away from the blasting, curling himself up into a ball. The wave of energy wrapped around him and sent him flying into the wall. As the energy dispersed, he leapt from the hole and dusted himself off. He smirked a little, checking himself for any major damage.

'_Hehe.. This armor always has been very durable..'_

He turned and walked out of the base, letting his metallic footsteps vibrate down the hallways, making sure to take harder steps than normal to show them off that the littler performance with the four busters was nothing more than an act. He was barely harmed at all from that blast. He exited the base with dark grin on his face, his left hand beginning to glow and crackle with purple energy.

"I will have my fun with this world yet.."

32 walked back into the Stasis Room and grabbed his arm from the ground. X was leaning against the wall by the doorway, breathing heavily. His arm was cracked in multiple places, coolant leaking from the side of his helmet and from his left side. 32 stood in front of him and set his hand on his shoulder.

"It's nice to see someone hasn't forgotten how to fight."

"Shut it.. I lost, remember."

"A lose is only a lose, if you die."

X stared at 32 as he walked into the lab and began reattaching his arms, his nanites pulling the arm up into its socket. He sighed heavily and fell into his lab chair. X grit his teeth and limped over to the side other side of the room, falling against the wall. He turned his gaze to 32 and closed his eyes.

"Are we the only people here?"

"Yea we ar-.. **ENZAN**!"

32 jerked forward in the chair and began typing quickly on the sparking keyboard, his fingers desperately working at the controls to try and get the computer to respond to what he wanted. One of the upper monitors sparked to life, though it had a crack down the middle. 32 checked the map of the base and sighed lightly, nodding happily.

"Good. The kid is still alive." X shook his head, "Why is there a human kid in here?"

"Certain.. Problems have arisen. It's a good thing you're now awake, X."

'_You go ahead and think that, 32..'_

"Enzan, you hear me?" 32's hand was set against the side of his helmet, which was almost cracked completely.

"I hear you, 32. Though your side has got a lot of static."

"Ge-**kzzt**t-**kzzt**-ab**kzzt**" 32's voice kept sliding in and out, Enzan was having a hard time trying to hear him, but he nodded his head, "I'll be there in a minute."

Enzan sighed heavily and took off running around, the rubber soles of his shoes making a light padding noise all the way down the hallway. He had been here for a day, and he was already getting used to the winding hallways, creepily lit corridors, and stale air. It seemed this was going to be the base of operations, until they either found somewhere new to go to, or they all died.

'_I'm hoping for the former, and not the latter on this one..'_

X rubbed his hand into the side of his neck, working out the crick that had just begun to form there. He sighed heavily and began to run diagnostic checks on himself. He glanced over at 32, who was once again typing furiously at the keyboard. He squinted a little to find out what was on the pale green screen.

'_Are those.. Axl's schematics? That was Axl I saw in that chamber.. But why?'_

"32.. Why are remaking Axl?"

"Because we need Class S Hunters, and we don't have any. But now we have you."

"I know where Axl is.. I could probably get him activated before tomorrow."

"..."

"What?"

"I did all this work for nothing, dammit!"

X smirked a little, but couldn't hold back as he began to laugh heartily, setting his hands against the wall on either side of his body. It had been a long time since he had laughed, a long time since he'd done anything. It felt good to be back out in the world, despite that fact that his world was now in shambles and disrepair.

'_I'll just have to get this place back together.. Make it the place I remember.'_


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19 - Forgotten Parties**

Steam rose forth from the manhole in the alleyway, the thick screen of gray particles shrouding the forms of three figures running. One of them tore through the thick smog, zipping past the roadways and sliding to a stop, a spray of rock and dirt flashing upward. This first figure was a dark gray in color, a golden boomerang adorning its forehead. It's eyes were a light green, and small ruptures sparked along his entire body, showing him off to be a robot through the smoke.

The next figure leaped through the smoke and landed beside the gray robot, this one was human, and a kid, slightly shorter than the first robot. He had locks of a dirty blonde color, the bangs always slipping out in front of his eyes, which were a light green shade. He was breathing heavily as the two both turned as the last of their little troupe came running through the smoke.

The last was much taller than the other two, his paint job was a mix of dark grey and black patches. Green flames adorned his head, the backs of his shoulders, and the tips of his fingers. He stood before the other two, the green flames increasing and decreasing in size as he breathed.

"We can't run forever.."

Claude sighed heavily and fell to the ground, his bangs sweeping across his forehead, the tips sliding in front of his view. He looked over at Prototype Quick, who was still sparking. Claude noticed that his knee joints were practically shattered, and he shook his head slowly.

'_Sebastian made him fast, but he didn't make him durable..'_

Claude turned his gaze toward Prototype Burn, who was gathering bits of paper and cardboard from around the alley and setting it all in one pile. He stacked a piece of wood up against the wall, nodding in satisfaction. Burn turned and crouched in front of the stack of trash and ignited it with one finger, the flame roaring to life quickly. Claude smiled and moved closer to it, shivering a little.

"Thanks Burn.."

The massive robot nodded his head and stepped over to Prototype Quick in two steps. The two began talking about something that Claude couldn't catch. He stared into the flames, watching them dance. He then turned his gaze toward the ground, sighing heavily.

'_I can't believe it.. Dr. Sebastian didn't give his Mavericks information about me.. I was one of their targets, just like everything else. Not even the Prototypes were offered any mercy.. Quick took the blunt of the attack, trying to give us time to get away. And then Burn helped cover our escape with his burners.. This is so screwed up.'_

_Claude and the two prototypes had made it halfway from Sebastian's laboratory to the where they had met up with Enzan the first time. Claude had been angry at not only Enzan; for the destruction of both Prototype Cut and Prototype Guts, but at Sebastian as well.. He had tried to force him into killing his own kin and he wasn't going to let someone tell him to kill his family._

"_Claude, we have company."_

_Claude hadn't been paying very close attention to what was going on around them, when Prototype Burn had interrupted his internal ranting with a word of warning. Claude stopped where he was and watched as a swarm of Mavericks swooped in around them on all sides. Claude barely had a chance to open his mouth before they began firing._

"_AHH!"_

_Prototype Quick had took charge of the situation almost immediately and activated his Quickdrive and vanished into a swirling blur. He spun around both Prototype Burn and Claude as quick as he could, using the golden boomerang shaped appendages on his gauntlets to block as many shots as he could. Prototype Burn added his own unique detail to the plan and roared his flames to life, letting them leap straight from his fingers and form a ring of blistering hot green flames around Prototype Quick._

"_We have to hurry!"_

_Prototype Quick came to a stop, and Claude had noticed that he was pretty banged up. Prototype Burn turned and lead the way, with Quick following after him, Claude bringing up the rear. Burn threw a ball of flame out through the ring of flame, and all three of them could hear the sound of melting metal. Burn extinguished the flames as he passed over them. Prototype Quick zipped through it, with Claude following. Burn took up the rear to make sure that Claude wasn't injured in their escape. They had fled down a nearby alley and just ran, turning random corners to get as far away as they could from the Mavericks._

_Prototype Burn finally picked out an alley and sent a wave of fire into the ground, creating a barrier. He then extinguished it to create a smog barrier. They ran through it and ended up where they were now, in a dank alley with a small fire. Prototype Quick was injured, Claude didn't know if he could fix him, but he would try once he had a chance to. Prototype Burn was injured very little, or not at all, as far as he could tell, and wouldn't be needing repairs. And Claude himself was in good shape, he still had all his body parts attached, and he wasn't bleeding or in pain._

Claude lifted his gaze away from the ground, staring into the dancing flame before him. He slowly closed his eyes, pulling his knees up against his chest and sighing heavily once more. He closed his eyes and drifted into a light sleep, hoping that the two Prototypes would wake him up when they decided to move on.

The city of Calamity wreaked of destruction. Life hadn't been in this town for a long time. And it seemed like life would never again become a part of this town's existence anytime in the future. Calamity had been the location of the final showdown of the Hunters and Sigma. Most of the town was destroyed in the ensuing blast of Zero's self-destruct of both himself and the base, but a few structures had stayed standing, one of which had a pillar of smoke billowing from its smoke stacks.

Within the factor, the roar of machines was everywhere, the sound was extremely loud that you would have to shout to get anything out, even if the person was standing right next to you. The gears were turning, the conveyor belts were rolling along, and everything was abuzz. A figure stood at the edge of a high up balcony, his light blue eyes watching over the progress of the machines. He had been at this factor for more years than he could remember, and never had this place been working at such a hurried pace.

He had been contacted a few weeks ago, by someone by the name of Robert. This 'Robert' character offered him a large amount of money to restart the factory and begin producing Mavericks as quick as the factor could make them. He had unwillingly agreed to do it, knowing that the money would be useful in the end, but the idea of reintroducing Mavericks into the world, after all the hard work he had done, was like stabbing himself in the back.

The Robert fellow had shipped enough parts to the factory to be able to create millions of Mavericks, and he had wondered just how this fellow had come across all these supplies, but he knew better than to ask. He immediately began setting the machines up, setting up the auto-loaders so that he wouldn't have to hire anyone to help him run the factory, and he was machine-efficient enough to be able to fix almost any problem that might occur. The factory was in good hands.

He sighed lightly, setting his gloved hands on the railing of the balcony. He smirked a little in satisfaction at how quickly he had begun the process of Maverick reproduction. He shook his head to get the thoughts of his head, he wasn't going to fall into that state ever again. He turned from the railing and walked back into his office. He set his right hand lightly on the cold metallic surface of the table in the center of the room. When the parts for the Mavericks arrived, he had found multiple parts that only Hunters would have and gathered them up and put them in his office. He had begun a project that was almost finished, 'Trigger.'

"You will be one of the greatest assets the Hunters will ever have.. The silent trigger of death."

Prototype Burn turned his head and noticed that the fire was almost out, and walked over to it. He grabbed the log from the wall and set it ablaze, laying it lightly down on to the brittle, scorched paper. He watched the fire ignite once more into a small fire and he nodded in satisfaction. He turned back to find that Prototype Quick had slid down the wall, his legs fully extended in front of him and shut himself down for a manual recharge. He sighed and sat down across from the sleeping Claude, who had curled himself up closer to the fire, but still at a safe distance.

'_What am I here for? Am I really just a prototype made to test the limits of my abilities.. Or do I have a bigger purpose? Maybe there is something out there that I could do.. That would.. Allow me to surpass this standard.. This simple programming.. And become something much more than I ever could have been..'_

He turned his eyes to where Prototype Quick was resting against the wall, slitting his eyes a little. He pushed himself to his feet and stepped over to the other prototype. He set his hand against Quick's chest and pressed lightly, pushing him against the wall. He stared into the face of his fellow prototype and nodded lightly.

'_The peaceful look on his face shows that he would agree with me.. I must convince Claude that we have to go to the Hunters. I want to be something more than just a simple robot.. I want to be.. More. There will be no guidelines for me.. I will prove myself worthy of a better destiny.'_

Claude slowly jerked awake, staring into the dying fire. He noticed that the log had been added into the flame, to keep it burning longer. He slowly pushed himself up away from the ground and he stretched himself out completely. He looked around a bit and saw that Prototype Quick was recharging against the wall a few feet away from him. He then glanced around once more, noticing that Prototype Burn was no longer in the alley.

"Where did you go.."

He got to his feet and walked down the alley slowly, his sneakers padding along, silencing his steps. He stopped at the end of the alley and looked both ways, seeing that Prototype Burn was leaning against the wall of the building to the right. The prototype turned and saw Claude staring at him.

"Good morning, Sir Claude."

"Hello Burn."

Prototype Burn pushed away from the wall and walked back into the alley, following Claude back to the fire. Claude watched Burn reignite the log, the flame bursting to life almost immediately. Burn sat down on one side of it and he sat opposite of him, staring up at the massive robot. Claude closed his eyes for a moment and let his mind wander. He opened his eyes when he realized that Burn was speaking.

".. and I think that we should go see the Hunters."

"The Hunters?"

"Yes, Sir Claude."

"I might get to see Enzan then.. It sounds like a good idea to me, Burn. We should leave once Quick is completely recharged. He took the blunt of the force today, he should get his rest."

"As should you, Sir Claude."

Claude nodded and huddled close to the fire once more. Burn got to his feet and sent a flame into the fire once more, making sure it stayed burning. He walked to where he had been before and once again disappeared behind the wall, leaning there as he had when Claude had disturbed him. Claude shook his head a little.

"What a strange bot." He sighed a little.

'_I wonder how you're doing Enzan.. It seems you got the right side of this entire conflict, being with Faern and all. I wonder if I could become his second assistant and help you two, and do something good for once. I've tried to understand Sebastian, but I don't think I'm cut out for such a harsh environment. We will just have to see.. Hopefully..'_ He closed his eyes and fell back asleep.


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20 - So The Souls Wander**

Cicero tilted back in his chair, tossing another manilla folder out on to the middle of his office, where the stack was rising slowly. He snatched up another folder and began flipping through it slowly, spinning his golden pen in his fingers before adding his signature on the dotted line at the bottom of the page. He threw that one just like the last, hearing it land on the top of the pile.

'_Isn't this the most exciting thing in the world..'_

Goompas pushed back his chair and got to his feet, tossing the folder in his hand down on to his large mahogany desk and walking out around it. He stepped over the rather large pile of folders ranging in color. He sighed a little as he passed by it and set his hands against the sides of his head, rubbing his temples.

'_Bothersome..' _"Break time!" _'And time to check up on Doctor Raijouta.'_

Goompas slid out of his office and walked down a hallway, making his way down the same corridors he went down the last time. Goompas was sure that Raijouta and his highly skilled team of Roboticists would be finished with the Wandering Souls by this point. He had given them enough time and resources to have it completed by last week, but set backs had occurred, like they always did, and they still were not finished. He stopped in front of the door and sighed heavily as he set his hand on the glowing green panel. He took a glance behind him at the walls and shook his head.

'_I'm getting someone to repaint these damn hallways.. The colors suck.'_

"Break time!"

Cicero lifted his head from the current folder he was looking through and gave a small smirk. He flipped the folder closed and tossed it back on to his desk. He pushed his chair out away from the desk and got to his feet, stretching a little. He made his way to the door to his office and watched Goompas make his way out of a door on the other side of the room.

'_That **'Mavericks'** folder.. I wonder.. Time for some Mission Impossible stuff.'_

Cicero dove into Goompas' room and rolled across the floor and to his feet in front of the door that Goompas had left in. He inched the door open and slid out of it, scuttling across the floor like a crab until he came to an intersection. He glanced both ways down the hall and saw Goompas' feet off to the right.

'_I've never been down here before. This is something only for the President, it seems.'_

Cicero slid up the wall slowly and dove to the other side of the corridor, rolling to his feet against the other wall. He stepped toward the wall edge and glanced out around it as a green panel lit up around Goompas' hand and a door shot open. He opened his eyes a little wider and followed after him quickly, making sure to get into the shadows when Goompas had turned around. He stood stock still until he heard the soft, mechanical 'whirring' of an elevator moving.

'_I have to be careful. I wouldn't want Goompas to catch me and.. Fire me or something, or make me leave like that one time he caught me looking through his stash of po-.. What was I thinking about again? Oh yea! Following Goompas!'_

Cicero ran to the door, which was halfway closed and slipped in underneath it. He stepped

over to the metal shaft that held the elevator and waited for a moment until it came back. He strode on to the metal surface and stood in the middle of it, closing his eyes as he felt it slowly glide downward.

'_Hopefully I don't run into anything nasty down here.'_

Raijouta's hand flicked back and forth within the chest panel of Dynamo's armor, working the welder carefully against the bases of some wires, keeping them in place. He withdrew the welder and turned it off. He nodded to the group of doctors surrounding the table, and they placed the chest armor back into place after he had closed the panel door.

"We must now await for Goompas' permission before we activate them."

Raijouta and a few other doctors turned toward the ramp leading down from the elevator to the laboratory and caught sight of Goompas' characteristic black suit and red tie, as well as the opaque shades on his face. Goompas stopped at the foot of the ramp and turned to Raijouta.

"Are they ready?" Raijouta gave a quick nod, "Of course, Goompas."

"Then activate them already."

"O-of course s-sir."

Cicero reopened his eyes as he felt the descent of the elevator slow down to a light sputter. The elevator released some pressurized steam as it hit the bottom, locking into place. Cicero strode forth and stopped in front of the door at the end of the elevator walkway. He turned and looked over his shoulder as the elevator reactivated and slid back up the shaft where both Goompas and he had first gotten on to it, though separately.

'_So.. President Goompas.. What exactly are you hiding down here?'_

Cicero set his hand against the door and felt it slide upward. He stepped through the metal frame and into a massive laboratory. He quickly dropped into a crouch and edged his way over to the railing, his eyes gazing down a ramp that wound its way from where he was all the way to the floor where Goompas currently was.

'_What in the hell?!'_

He turned his eyes toward the floor where a group of men in lab coats and Goompas were standing. Movement began to become apparent in one of the rows of tables, this one only containing five tables, while the others had seven to ten. Cicero watched as the occupants of these five tables all activated simultaneously and sat up. He let out a soft gasp, quickly slapping his hand over his mouth, keeping any other noises from escaping to give away his position.

'_Holy shit.. Mavericks!'_

Andehshun watched as the five different Reploids all came to life. He had an up close view, only a few feet away from them. Each of the five Reploids was different from the others, each one was quite unique in its design. He noted that from their outward appearance, the Wandering Souls was made up of two melee-fighters, two ranged-fighters, and one combination of both.

'_They will do their jobs well.'_

He turned away from the five and slipped through the group of Roboticists crowding around the tables. Malone and Stabler both followed after him, being his 'assistants' in the construction of Paragon. Andehshun drew his hand over Paragon's chest plate, smiling softly.

"Almost finished.."

Malone and Stabler quickly assembled the parts needed to complete the lower half of Paragon's design. Andehshun smirked at how hard the two worked, and at how efficient they were at completing a task. He turned and glanced over at Goompas; who was glancing in his direction, but it was hard to tell due to the shades. Andehshun turned his head back and began working on a device that would keep Paragon from getting infected by the Maverick virus, checking up now on then on the progress of Malone and Stabler.

'_It's rather late to say this.. But thank you. If you hadn't taken the time to design this, I probably never would have gotten into the Roboticist business.. Thank you very much, however many greats, Grandpa Satoshi..'_

Dynamo rose up from his lab table, and slowly opened his eyes. His eyes widened dramatically as he stared at the people in front of him through the red visor across his gaze. He turned himself and slid off the lab table, standing in front of the numerous men in lab coats.

'_This can't be. I'm alive again. I can't even remember how I died, but it was most likely X.. I never did put up a good enough fight for him and Zero. But now.. Now.. I have a second chance. I won't fall into Sigma's power this time, no, not this time. I'm free from his control.. Dynamo is going to prove himself as a Reploid.'_

Forte's body felt stiff as he lifted himself away from the table. His eyes flashed open and he stared at the shiny metal table underneath him. His eyes widened slowly and he lifted his gaze up little by little, waiting for that old man's face to appear in front of him, but he was met with the stares of more than a few faces, some of which were old, but none of them reminded him of that man's face. And none of their eyes reflected what his did whenever he stared at him. He set his hands to the side of his head and shook it slowly, closing his eyes.

'_What's going on.. I don't understand.. Why am I here? And where's Wily? Wait.. Who cares where Wily is! The old man is gone! I'm here! That's all that matters. He can't force me into doing his dirty work anymore! Ha! In the end, Wily, I won.. Or have I?'_

Storm Eagle, Flame Stag, and Slash Beast all eased up off of their gleaming metal tables and slid off on to the floor. Each one having a different sound than the other as their feet touched down. They turned and gazed at one another, noticing that the symbol of Sigma's control was gone from their shoulders.

'_The Great Master Sigma.. Who said he would never fail, has failed. As I did once. I lost to X, just like all the other Mavericks that fought him. Not even Sigma, who was once a Maverick Hunter himself, could win against X's sheer determination to win. And his reign has finally ended and all the Mavericks that were once Hunters will return eventually, but what is our purpose? Why are we once again in the world? The reasons do not matter, we are once again here.. We will prove ourselves as warriors once more.'_

"Goompas!"

Cicero's form came running down the stairs as Goompas turned toward the person that had said his name. His eyes watched Cicero came to a stop in front of him, breathing a little quicker than normal due to the steepness of the ramp.

"What do you think you're doing down here, Goompas?!"

"..." Cicero grit his teeth, "Answer me dammit!"

"I'm making sure that the human race lives a bit longer."

"What the **HELL** is **THAT** supposed to mean!?"

"Cicero.. Go back upstairs." Cicero clenched his fists at his sides, "No."

"Do it, Cicero!"

"NO!"

Cicero's hand came up quickly from his side and took even himself by surprise. Cicero's palm slammed against the side of Goompas' face, leaving a dull red mark in the shape of his flattened hand imprinted on his cheek. Goompas straightened himself up and fixed his shades, which had gone crooked after the blow. Cicero stared at Goompas for a moment and then turned and ran back up the ramp to the elevator.

Goompas turned around to face the doctors, his cheek was stinging, but he kept the pain from showing up on his face in anyway, aside from the sweltering mark. He clapped his hands together and gave a thin smile, "Good job Raijouta. Now, get them ready to fight."

"Of course."

Goompas turned away from the doctors and headed up the ramp to the elevator, his face beginning to sting uncontrollably. He pushed open the door to the elevator shaft and waited for the elevator to return the bottom after Cicero rode it up. He set his hand against the mark and silently screamed into the shaft, gritting his teeth.

"Ugh.. That stings so bad.."

'_I don't know how Cicero ever found out about the laboratory.. Or how he knew about the Mavericks.. But I'm going to have to bring him in on the whole thing and explain it all to him.. He **IS** my vice-president, I can't keep things of this level of importance away from him. I'll tell him after my face stops hurting.'_


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21 - DEATHVILLE 26XX**

Blue's form was a solid azure blur as he dashed at full speed through the old, beaten down town quickly. His soft blue eyes darted to and fro across the beaten path that he was taking. He had yet to see any sign of Flagpole anywhere, but he wasn't going to give up just yet. Flagpole may not be on this side of the town, nor would he probably ever be, but he was determined to find his partner before he ran out of juice and needed a recharge.

'_I'm coming for you, Flagpole. Blue has always been there to watch your back.'_ He sighed heavily and pulled the power from his left buster and transmitted it to his dash thrusts, increasing his speed slightly.

Ragnarok's tentacles took hold of each Reploid in the room at once, excluding Climax, and sent a small surge of Dark Energy into their forms. The three of them would never notice that they had been infused with this small amount of Dark Energy. Only those infected with a mass amount of Dark Energy, like himself and Climax, would be able to detect the Dark Energy in their forms. And Ragnarok was only planning on using it for tracking them as they did his bidding.

"Climax.. Hassss called you all.. Here.. For me.."

"We get that part, but what do you want from us?" Dark Squall snapped loudly, the Dark Energy was taking a liking to this one, melding itself into his emotions.

"Quiet, Dark Squall. Ragnarok is speaking." Climax grit his teeth a little, shaking his head.

'_Maybe I picked the wrong people.'_

"Sss.. I have insss-erted.. A locator into.. All of you.. I have alssso hired sssomeone to help around.."

"What!" This time it was Climax that burst in with an interruption.

"Yesss.. I hired a man.. By the name.. Of Fear." Climax grit his teeth and ground them together.

Climax turned his eyes away from his floating brother, his teeth grit tightly together beneath the mask covering part of his face. His left hand, the one farthest from Ragnarok, shook angrily.

'_Does he not think I'm capable of this job? I'll show him! And this.. Fear! He'll **FEAR** me! **HA**!'_

Flagpole's already large form began to increase in size and almost double itself in total mass. He swung his now massive fist forward, cracking his knuckles against the broadside of a brick building. His form quickly began to decrease in size and returned to normal in about the same time the building took to finally fall.

"Heh.."

The building shook and the pieces of brick crumbled beneath one another and the building fell into itself, like a massive domino structure. As the pieces fell, small explosions ruptured upward through the rubble, proving that he had picked the right building. He sighed and scratched the side of his face lightly, staring away for a moment.

"This place is so easy to destroy.." He reached out for a metal beam sticking out from the rubble and spun it over his head, he slammed the metal pole into the ground and grinned, "Welcome to Deathville!"

He released the pole and took off running, his form slowly decreasing in mass, changing his body from a taller sized Reploid into that of a gnome-sized Reploid. His speed increased multiple times the smaller he got. He rip up dirt and gravel as he took off running, vanishing into a cloud of dust.

The sunlight streamed down around the old church building, showing how significant it was, or used to be, to the small town. The soft sound of steam erupted from within the silent building. Within the small church, where the altar had once been, stood a gleaming Stasis Pod containing a single Reploid. The pod was activating on its own, like a timer had been set for him to activate on this particular day. The jade paneling faded from sight and the Reploid's scarlet oculars lit up and he stared into the world once more.

"You're finally awake again, Shori.."

A single Reploid limped its way through the cemetery, its form half ruined. Multiple parts of its body was missing, and should have been dripping with coolant, but he had been long since dead, that all of his coolant had leaked from his body. He sighed heavily and slammed his right fist into a nearby tombstone, the stone cracking and exploding beneath the force. He stood up straight, the upper part of his left arm slowly reforming as he walked.

'_Small price to pay for immortality, I suppose..'_

'_Fear, you're talking to yourself again.'_

'_...'_

'_Don't act like that, Fear. You know I'm here for you.'_

'_Where are we supposed to be going anyway?'_

'_You're almost there.. Only a little farther. Maybe we can get you some spare energy from somewhere.'_

'_I need it, don't I? Heh.. I'm missing more than a few body parts.'_

'_I've kept you alive this long. I won't stop now.'_

'_Good.'_

Fear closed his eyes as he forced himself to walk a little quicker. He had to make it to the warehouse and meet up with Ragnarok, or whoever this guy was, and get his assignment. Perfect Divine had been with him for quite a few hundred years, and he had never let him down on making sure that he had gotten repaired completely. Fear stared at the ground as he stumbled along, he couldn't think without Perfect Divine knowing what he was thinking, he couldn't do anything without the sentient being sharing his body knowing what he was up to.

Ragnarok's form quivered slightly in the air, before he drew his tentacles back into himself, looking like a harmless glowing purple orb floating about six feet in the air. A single tentacle spun out from the bottom of the orb and snuck across the room, tapping Lull on the forehead and then moving to Dark Squall, doing the same to him.

"You two.. Kill.. Reploid.. Disss-turbancesss.."

"Of course." Dark Squall snorted a little and walked out of the warehouse, with Lull following along behind him, her beam axes already out and in her hands, her fingers tight around the shafts.

Ragnarok's single tentacle swept across the room and dropped down to CN's level, lightly tapping her on the forehead and nudging her back a little. CN grit her teeth behind her lips, hiding her displeasure of a tentacle even touching her. It 'sensed' her dislike and slipped back into Ragnarok's orb form.

"You.. Find more.. Help.." CN only nodded and spun on her heel and exited the building rather quickly.

Climax crossed his arms over his chest, his back to his brother's bodiless form. Ragnarok floated over to Climax and crept around in front of him, floating at Climax's eye level. Multiple tentacles erupted from Ragnarok's form and wrapped around Climax's entire form, locking his body in place.

"And you.. Find Fear.." Climax stared angrily at his brother, not saying anything. "**FIND HIM**!"

Ragnarok's tentacles snapped and went flooding back into his body as Climax sent a ripple of Dark Energy around his body, the two energies connecting and breaking the hold over him. He turned and walked out of the warehouse at a slightly increased pace than normal. Ragnarok hovered back over to the entrance of the base, waiting for a helpless Reploid to go running past so he could collect more energy.

The church seemed to be singing within the light of the sun, which was directly above in the center of the arc of the sky. The shingles, though old, still shimmered within the sunlight. Shori stretched himself out and crept along the platform his pod was on. He stepped down into the center aisle and walked slowly toward the door. His gray armor reflected the sun streaming through a few holes in the roof, sending rays of crimson across the church walls from his carbon rubber suit. He reached his hand up and flicked the golden spikes on his helmet, smirking a little.

"Everything seems to be in place.. But where are the rest of them?"

He turned around a few times and then noticed a staircase off to the right side of the church. He headed for that door, his scarlet eyes never moving from where he was heading. He set his hand on the door frame and walked through the slim doorway, walking down a staircase into a lower section of the church.

He stopped in front of a group of four Stasis Pods exactly like his own upstairs. He set his right hand lightly on the paneling of each pod in turn, moving from left to right. He walked back over to stand in front of all four of them at once. He walked over to the first pod and set his hand lightly to the green glass.

"Reaver.. Awaken." The sound of his voice activated the programing to the pod and set it on reactivation, as he walked to the next pod.

"You too, Velocity.." His hand lightly touched the glass as he moved on to the next pod in the line, his voice clear as he spoke, "Awaken Giro."

He walked over to the final pod and stood in front of it, the other three pods slowly going through the procedure of reactivation. The four pods were all supposed to be activated all at once, instead of one at a time, so they would wait for the other ones to get to where they could be released at once. He set his hand to the glass and stared at the Reploid inside.

"And finally.. Iylth. Wake up."

The last pod went through the process rather quickly, catching up to the other three pods. All four of the pods all activated at once, the paneling sliding away and steam filtering from the bottom of the pods. Shori crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for each member of his small team to reawaken from their long and deep slumber.

'_I'm surprised that this church is even still standing after all this time. I set the internal clocks of the pods to reactivate me after four centuries, I didn't think it'd actually do it.'_

The steam had all been released and he heard the panels evaporate away from around the pods, meaning that the four Reploids within the pods should be activated. He smiled slightly and took a step forward. He barely had time to dive out of the way as a clawed hand came shooting through the steam from the first pod, the claws tearing into the wall behind where Shori had just been standing. He stayed down, hiding behind the staircase.

'_What the hell?'_

Reaver stepped down from his pod, his arm tightening and breaking through the wall and retracting back into place. His black armor shimmered slightly as the steam cleared out from around the room. His silver claws quivered lightly as he glanced around the room, his face a blank piece of black metal paneling.

"Come out Shori.. I know you're hiding. Don't hide from poor little old Reaver.."


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22 - Amassing Humans of War**

It had been many years since the city of Neo Tokyo had ever seen any type of danger, and today wasn't going to be any different. Neo Tokyo was built in honor of the Tokyo in the age before 23XX, where the population of Reploids was diminished to double digits, to zero in the eyes of the humans. Tokyo had been destroyed back then, before then actually.

Back in 20XX, the era of Light and Wily, was when the real destruction of Tokyo began. The battles between Mega Man and Bass had decimated the city, and rarely was there enough time between fights to rebuild the lost architecture. It seemed that Tokyo was doomed for failure at the activation of those two bots.

Tokyo can still be found, beneath the amazing and futuristic architecture of Neo Tokyo. The remains of the original Tokyo are the foundation of Neo Tokyo, for it was built atop the ruins of that once grandeur city. Which is now nothing more than rubble and ruin, but a group of people have found a use for such a setting.

The lights within the room flickered a few times, before coming back on. That had been the third time in the last five minutes that the power had gone out on them, but neither of the two figures had cared. Their discussion continued whether the lights were on or off.

"The idea of moving from Tokyo is completely redundant. The Kitetsu was formed here and will be staying here, Jakku."

"The origin isn't the point! Tokyo is ruins now! We need a place where we can actually DO things, Smoke!"

Jakku and Smoke had been arguing for roughly twenty minutes on the topic of moving the Kitetsu from the ruins of old Tokyo to somewhere more fitting for them. They were a very powerful, though small, group of men and needed a bigger place to show that they weren't just a group of punks out for revenge on the world.

These two men were a few of the last remaining members of the Kitetsu outfit. Aside from them, there were three other members. Axl Renegade, X2, and Contra Kaede Phillips. All three of them were out of the base doing something mission-like that was not really required, but more on the 'should-be-done-at-some-point' list of things.

Contra's massive form strolled through the back alleys of Neo Tokyo, though the back alleys were just as bright as the main streets were, they were still where all the criminals and thugs hung out. His black hair, striped with crimson strands, swept backward as a strong breeze spun through the alleyway in his direction. The blue gem in the center of his chest gleamed as a light just above his head sparked to life. It had been ages since Contra had been in this area and he almost jolted from the sudden action, but he had spent years controlling his emotions so that the times he was caught surprised were rare and far between. The sounds of gunfire crept through the space beneath the barred door where the light had come from.

'_Gunfire? Time to put these old muscles to work.'_

Contra's foot swept upward fluidly, the muscles within his legs meshing into a masterpiece of finely tuned and efficient power. The flat of Contra's boot made contact with the door and it shuddered underneath the force. Contra's right arm swept forward rapidly and ripped straight through the thick metal, tearing a hole within the titanium. He crawled in through the hole he had created and stared through the darkened hallway before him, the sounds of gunfire coming from farther within the structure. The flashes from the gunfire bursts lit up the hallway as Contra strode forth, his hulking form almost touching the ceiling.

'_You would think they would notice someone ripping a hole in their backdoor..'_

Axl reached his hands up and tugged on his shirt, loosening it a bit. He was tired of being cooped up in this box, but he really didn't have a choice. Contra and he had been sent out to find a mob lord that was dealing out high-caliber weaponry. Not only was the Kitetsu going to stop him, by any means necessary, they were also going to take any of the weapons they felt would be an asset to them.

'_Damn that Contra. He should be in this box, and not me.'_

Axl slammed his foot against the wall of the box, and then bit his tongue, closing his eyes. He opened his eyes and moved his left hand to the side of the visor slanted over his gaze. He tapped it once and the visor activated, data flying down the left side of the visor, displaying images and scans of everything he stopped them on. He tapped the visor side once more, and his vision went to a dark red, displaying his vision in infrared. He scanned the outside of the box, checking for any signs of the guards coming in to check on the noise, but he saw nothing.

'_Phew. Contra better hurry his ass up and get in here and open this box.'_

X2 was fully clothed in human clothes, his entire body covered up by the baggiest attire that Smoke could acquire for him in the time span of an hour. X2 was wearing extremely baggy black pants and a dark blue shirt, loose enough to hang away from his metallic chest. He was wearing a black cowboy-type hat, that was pulled down over his ravenous black hair, which was a wig.

'_I feel so stupid in this outfit.'_

X2's job on this mission was to observe the front door of the mob lord's hideout and keep a lookout for any new customers, and take a picture of each one with the camera that Smoke had installed into his left eye. All he had to do was activate it and then blink. The camera was capable of taking pictures as fast as X2 was able to blink.

He watched as a group of men in black suits strolled right up to the door and walked in. His left eye flapped insanely quick for the few seconds that they were walking to the door, he clocked in fifty-nine pictures in roughly eight seconds. He jerked his neck to the side, a metallic crack resounding from his neck. He sighed and fell back against the wall behind him, a look of boredom etched upon his facial features.

'_Contra and Axl get all the fun while I'm stuck as the photographer. What kind of sick joke is this!'_

Smoke turned away from Jakku for a moment and tapped three fingers across an old keyboard that was lined with dirt and dust. A file had been transmitted and he accepted it, seeing as how it was from X2. He opened the file and found the new photographs that he had taken of a group of people entering the mob lord's place. Both he and Jakku stared at the screen, noticing the emblem on the mens' suits, Globotech's insignia. Smoke scoffed loudly at this.

"Those bastards are going to purchase weapons and then go and sell them off at their stores to kids."

"Kitetsu's involvement seems imminent at this point, am I right?" Jakku asked with a smirk, already knowing.

"Hell yes it is. We're heading out."

"Finally!"

The town of Wei-Hai-Wei was a one-horse one, down on one of the eastern peninsulas of China. It had no man-made roads, only the dirt was your road through this small town. A breeze swept through the small town, but no one noticed, because no one was outside. Everyone that lived there was inside, the news of Reploids had spread across the world, even the smallest towns in China knew that Mavericks had returned.

A young man sat in the middle of a room filled with books, half of which were sprawled open on the floor at his feet. A book was open in his lap as he was teetering the chair on its back legs, his brown eyes quickly scanning through the pages, flipping to the next page. He teetered a little bit too far back in the chair and it slipped out from underneath. He went crashing to the floor, the back of the chair cracked against the floor and shattered, with him falling right on top of it.

"Ow.."

He got to his feet and dusted off his denim jeans, wiping away the splinters from the broken chair. He picked the chair up and threw it out of the room, grabbing a new chair and setting it back where the old one was. He got into the chair and began teetering again, with the book in his lap once more.

"All these books and so very few on how to make Reploids.. Cody, you're never going to get a Reploid clone of yourself. Poo."

He grabbed the book by the spine and threw it across the room, watching it slam into the opposite wall and fume dust all over the cedar logs of the wooden house. He set the chair back down on all fours and got to his feet. He set his hand on his chin and walked back and forth slowly, pondering this predicament.

'_This house has been in my family for **AGES**.. Since 20XX, the age of Mega Man and them. And not **ONE** of these books has anything in them about making Reploids! I want a Cody Clone! I want one! And I want one now! This is unfair.. I'm going to die because of Mavericks and I won't have my own Cody Clone to keep me alive. This sucks.'_

Elsewhere in the large country of China, on the same peninsula as Wei-Hai-Wei, was the city of Qingdao. This city was notorious for its museums containing the relics of the past. And it was in one such museum that was on high alert. Something had been stolen, and that something was the original beam saber used by Sigma in the beginning of the Sigma Wars back in 21XX.

Ramzal gasped for air as he ran. He had to run, and he had to run fast. His legs were pumping, the denim pants he was wearing were one of the worst articles of clothing he could have worn for this type of thing. His red shirt was drenched with perspiration and his silky silver hair was shimmering with sweat. He grit his teeth and forced himself to run faster, the sounds of cop sirens reached his ears, and he practically threw himself down an alley and into the shadows, but that didn't stop him. He quickly rolled to his feet and kept on running, trying to put some distance between himself and the cops.

'_Why would I steal? And from a museum for that matter! They just think I did it because I have long hair! They think I'm just a thieving punk that goes out of his way to steal things from museums! Dammit. Come on Ramzal, run faster, they're gaining on you.'_

He didn't question his own thoughts, and he wasn't about to stop and give himself in and prove that the cops were right and that he had in fact stolen the relic from the museum, but he wasn't going to stop just to prove them wrong either. He wasn't suicidal. These cops would have shot him before asking him any questions, he knew the police chief personally, and that man was out for his head, all the time.

The police station was a block away from the museum that had recently been robbed. And between the time it took the museum sensors to go off and the cops to head out to find the criminal, Police Chief Vuittonet had already known who the culprit was.

"Ramzal. Find him and bring him in. He's our man. Catch him at all costs. Dead or alive."

He knew that he was going to the extreme on this one, but it was about time that rapscallion was brought in on a charge. The little punk had gotten away too many times before, and Vuittonet wasn't about to let him get away for the umpteenth time. The Qingdao Police Department would finally catch a big time criminal that had been stealing ancient Reploid-based relics from museums all across China.

'_Time to call in some help.'_

Vuittonet knew the perfect candidate to help the police catch Ramzal. Vuittonet grabbed for the phone and dialed in three numbers, each one representing a different area of town. The phone rang twice before someone answered.

"Yes, hello. This is Vuittonet. Put Ran on the phone."

"Booyaka Vuittonet!"

"Ran, I have a job for you."

"But who is going to watch the bar?"

"I'll get someone over there immediately to take over for you. I need you to track down a kid by the name of Ramzal."

"I can do that!"

"Good to hear."

Ran headed out of the bar, his blonde hair shining lightly in the sun. He pulled his white coat about his shoulders more and headed down the tavern steps, turning and running away from the museum that was only a few minutes from his bar. He glanced down alleys as he went, making sure that the kid didn't try and sweep out and escape through a manhole or up a fire escape.

'_Vuittonet has been after this guy for a while, but I know he's not a bad kid. Ramzal checks in on my bar every now and then. He's a regular too, tips me well! He's not a capitalist, I tell ya!'_

Ramzal bolted out of the alley and ran straight into the barkeep of his regular tavern. "Ran!"

"Booyaka Ramzal!"

The smaller man quickly got to his feet and dusted himself off. They stared at each other for a moment, before Ramzal grabbed Ran's arm and dragged him down the alley beside the bar. He lead him in through the back and planted him on the back steps of the bar.

"Ran.. I'm in trouble, deep trouble."


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23 - New New York Rampage**

Sebastian's laboratory was located out of the way of the hustle and bustle of the big city. He was of the older age and had collected quite a few things throughout his years of life, so he began buying storage houses all throughout the city, in random locations. No one ever suspected the old man of any wrong doing, but what was really in the warehouses he owned could be questioned upon. Once his decision to recreate every Maverick he could, he began to stock the Reploids into the storage houses, and he packed them to the top. He wasn't going to back down from his conquest of reintroducing Reploids to the world. And if his plan went correctly, the world would have to deal with more than just one single scientist behind this new era.

Anode turned his gaze toward the horizon, the sun was beginning its descent of the western sky. He turned his gaze back toward the small group he was accompanied by and walked back toward them. Mr. Death and Franco were still leaning against the wall, the energy capsule that AX had given to Mr. Death was helping him a bit, he had regained more than enough energy from the mixture of resting and the capsule, that he should be able to make it back to the HQ without any hindrance to the pace they were planning on taking.

"What's that sound?" AX's head was cocked toward the west, and Anode turned back to stare at the horizon.

The ground was rumbling and beginning to shake, like a herd of elephants was coming in their direction rather quickly. The noise was thunderous, but it was not the sounds of hooves, it was the sound of metallic footsteps slamming against asphalt, at a pace that was not likable for this small group. Anode turned back to the four of them.

"Alpha, take Franco and Bread Man back to the base, right now."

"Wha? Why?" AX answered for him, "We have trouble."

"AX and Mr. Death will stay here with me and give you guys some time to get moving. Go as fast as you can. I know Bread Man's body will be extra weight for you, Franco, but you can't drop him nor leave him behind. Go now!"

Franco quickly snatched up the limp form of Bread Man and began loping after Alpha's smaller form, who was already running ahead. Alpha ignited his beam saber and checked ahead to make sure it was clear. Franco began to run quicker as Alpha waved him on. The two of them disappeared behind a building with Bread Man's body.

Anode sighed heavily, morphing his left hand into a buster and beginning its charge. Mr. Death pushed himself away from the wall, morphing his right hand into a buster as well, also charging it up. He slid into a battle stance and steadied his buster arm with his other hand, aiming it down the street where the sound was coming from. AX ignited his beam saber and stood a little ways off to Anode's right, who gave him a nod.

"Mr. Death and I will release fully charged plasma shots into them, that's when you go in AX. I'll follow in behind you. Mr. Death, you take up the long range and make sure to keep any air units off of us. We're not going to want to bother taking them out while dealing with ground units."

"Understood." Both Mr. Death and AX replied at the same time.

Piro leapt upward on to a building side and triangle-kicked his was up to the roof, as an explosion rocketed the ground in the midst of their group. Fidget and the two Reploids with him had been sent flying, crashing into a nearby hover car, or what was left of it. Panic had kept his ground, but his saber had fallen from his grasp and was now somewhere inside the cracks of the road. Piro morphed his hand into his buster and activated its sniper mode, crouching down at the roof's edge.

"What was that, Piro!" Piro's visor slid down over his vision, letting him see through the shroud of smoke, "I'm checking, Panic!"

Piro moved his head back and forth slowly, trying to decipher the figures he was seeing through the smoke. He didn't want to make a bad call and call them Mavericks and have them turn out to be the rest of the group. Panic finally located his saber and ignited it, spinning it slowly within his fingers, as Piro bellowed from the roof, "MAVERICKS!"

Elcazor rounded around the corner within the massive structure of Sebastian's laboratory. He stopped at the large titanium doors and tapped a three-digit code into the panel, and waited for it to slide open. He stepped out of the building and walked a few yards out and turned to the right, rounding another corner into a back alley. He walked toward another massive titanium door and tapped the same three-digit code into that panel, and it opened up. He stood where he was and watched as some of the metallic faces within the warehouse turned in his direction. A dark grin spread over his face.

Shoryu appeared at his side and every face within the warehouse gave their attention. They knew that Shoryu was the real force to contend with, he had the experience and the intelligence. Elcazor may have the advanced technology and the speed, but Shoryu would end up winning a fight if the two ever got into one.

Elcazor gave a nod to Shoryu and began to yell things out at the group of Mavericks, assigning each group of Reploids a certain job for this little mission. Shoryu took a step back, turned on his heel, and walked a few short steps, where he spun around once more and leaned against a wall. He watched Elcazor's plan form as the younger Maverick assigned jobs. The humanoid Reploids would be the fodder, to go in first and attack. The flyers would sweep in behind them and keep the enemy distracted. The larger humanoid Reploids would then roll in and take the hits, while the faster Reploids attacked. If that didn't stop them, a squad of four D-1000's would reinforce the entire attack. Elcazor and Shoryu would be in the D-1000 group. They would wait until the very end to bring in their wrath upon the enemy. Shoryu's mind was elsewhere when Elcazor asked him a question.

"Shoryu!" He looked to the beret-wearing Maverick, "Yes?"

"Do you have anything else to add?"

Shoryu sneered beneath his face mask as he pushed himself away from the brick wall. He strolled forth at a rather slow pace, his fingers clenching and unclenching slowly. As he stopped slightly in front of Elcazor, both wrists exploded with dark green energy, the two wrist blades glowing ominously before him. He crossed them in front of his body and stroked them against one another, showering the ground in front of him with plasma. He released with a venomous growl, "Let's go kill us some Hunters!" His voice was drowned up with the shouting that ensued from the Mavericks.

Alpha noticed that he and Franco were making very good time. They would be back at the base before nightfall. Not having to deal with stealth or Mavericks, like he and Bread Man had to on the way there, was greatly decreasing the time. They still had quite a while to go before they would be back at the base and Alpha wanted to make sure that the two of them didn't run into anything that they couldn't handle.

'_Hopefully Anode and AX are keeping up well back there, I wish I could have stayed with them, but this is probably for the best. 32 would want the information from me and not from Franco or Mr. Death, seeing as how I was there.'_

"Alpha!" Franco's voice brought Alpha back to reality.

They both slid to a stop, breathing rather heavily. The path before them was completely covered with small hats, each one with a dark green cross right in the middle, almost the same darkness as the rest of the helmet, which was brown. Small antennae stood up on the right side of each helmet.

"Mettaurs.. And so many.."

"What should we do?"

'_Stay and fight.'_ "You go."

"But what about you?"

'_I'll run, you stay.' _"I'll stay here and keep them off of you."

"You sure?"

'_Make me change my mind.'_ "Go Franco!"

Franco turned down an alley and ran out of Alpha's sight. He set his hand lightly against his forehead and sighed. He reached for the hilt to his saber and ignited it, letting the blade glow at his side. A few of the Mets popped up, their mouths opening up to reveal the tiny plasma rifles built into them.

'_Good going, Alpha.' _"This is going to hurt so bad.."

Alpha leapt forward and into the mass of Met hats, his saber was a blur as it went for more Mets than he would ever be able to count. The saber splashed across their protective helmets, keeping him from damaging them. He grit his teeth as he felt the plasma rip into his back from more than a few Mets that had popped up behind him.

Anode and Mr. Death both had released waves of fully charged plasma into the ranks of Mavericks heading in their direction. The two blasts had wiped out, at least, two rows of the horde. AX dashed out immediately after the two blasts ravaged the Maverick horde. His beam saber was an azure blur as it wreaked havoc upon the Reploids opposing it.

"Duck AX!"

Anode leapt in over AX, who dropped to a crouch. Anode landed on top of a Joe, cutting it clean in half with the electric end of his saber. He spun the saber about completely before him, both ends of the saber cleaving through a Joe with a shield, the saber going right through the shield as well.

"AX, the shields are fakes, the sabers can eat through them!"

"Haha! Thank you Anode!" AX leapt up and cleaved through a Joe's head, taking the shield out with the sweep of the blade as well.

Mr. Death was taking shots he knew he could take at his current condition, rarely would he aim for a longer shot. Despite the energy capsule that AX had given him and the rest he had gotten afterward, his systems were still worn down. He wouldn't push himself to do anything he didn't think he could do. He quickly leapt out of the way and behind half of what used to be a Quaker and aimed out over top of it at the incoming group of Crushers that were determined to pin him down and execute him with their spiked bottoms. He kicked out away from the Quaker and up the wall, triangle-kicking his way to be eye-level with the Crushers. He kicked away from the wall, his buster partially charged. He aimed and let the shot loose, wiping out all four of them at once. He landed back on top of the Quaker, breathing rather heavily.

'_Shit.. I'm not charged enough to be doing this.'_

'_Let me do it then.'_

'_You again!?'_

'_You can't get rid of me.. I **AM** YOU!'_

'_No, shut up.'_

'_I'm limitless, Mr. Death.. I can fight them without losing energy.'_

'_You'll kill AX and Anode, you heartless bastard!'_

'_Fine. Die then.'_

'_If it means staying free, then I will.'_

'_I'll just resume control once you're dead for good.'_

'_We'll see..'_

Anode grit his teeth angrily, the Joe's were making a barricade with their weak shields to try and stop them, while the Sniper Joe's behind them sent volley after volley of hot plasma in their direction. Anode could feel his anger rise, but he wasn't going to fall into his emotions, especially not during a battle of such a large scale. He leapt away as a rain of shots exploded upon the ground where he just was. He aimed and let loose his own volley, but of electrically charged shots. Each shot hit a different Joe and disrupted his system with the electric current backing the shot and the barricade was reduced by quite a few.

AX leapt over the row of Joe's that had just been reduced in numbers by Anode's electric shots. He landed behind even the Sniper Joe's and swept his saber through two of them at once, piercing his saber up through the back of a normal Joe, the saber piercing through even the shield. He whipped the saber out and through both Joe's at his sides. He leapt backward as the Sniper Joe's finally noticed his presence behind their lines. The plasma splashed over his armor, leaving light dents all across his form.

'_Dammit! I can't get away fast enough to stop them all at once. And I can't use the AX Drive again so soon. Give it a few more minutes, AX.. You can keep this up for a little bit more. Last resort!'_ And he leapt back into the fray, his hand morphing into a buster, firing off a volley into the Joe's before him.

Orichalcon grabbed hold of the hover car he and Bleu had slammed into it, and flipped backward over it, landing behind it. Bleu quickly followed his maneuver and landed beside him, her right hand morphing into her buster. She aimed the point toward the ground and slowly began charging.

"I'll give you time, Bleu." She smiled and gave a nod, "Thanks."

Orichalcon leapt to his feet, the lasers sliding up from his wrists, pointing toward the direction the blast had come from. Light gathered at the small tips of his wrist lasers and then two long blue streaks erupted from the ends and he swept them back and forth slowly, the two blades parallel with one another. He watched as explosions erupted on the other side of the road, where the Mavericks were coming from. He deactivated the lasers as Fidget leapt upward, his beam spear activated in his hands.

Fidget dashed forward, whipping the spear around his form agilely, showing off his true skill. The beam spear struck home with each movement he made, gouging through the faces of Reploids, cleaving through waists, slicing off appendages, and splitting them down the middle. He leapt backward as plasma rained down on him. He landed in a crouch, drawing out a pistol with his left hand and firing back upon the Joe's aiming at him.

'_Stick to the spear, Fidget!'_

Panic had single-handedly took on a smaller group of the Mavericks that had come from behind them. He was tired from it, so he slid into an alley and rested against the wall, his right hand placed against his chest, where his heart would have been if he were a human. He breathed heavily, glancing around to where Bleu and Orichalcon were.

"Glad they're on our side, eh Panic?"

"Heh, yea Piro. Cover me for a bit?" Piro nodded from above and cocked his rifle, "Can do."

Piro once again took up his position on the roof edge, his sniper gleaming in the fading light. He took pot shots at the larger Mavericks in the group, leaving only small dents in them. He grit his teeth and began to take better aim, and then fired, the plasma shot ripped straight through a D-10's face, it's movement faltered for a moment and then it collapsed forward on to a group of Mettaurs, erupting into a large explosion. He sighed heavily and noticed that a swarm of Bats and Birds were coming in behind the group.

"Ahh, shit."

Franco booked it, his pace increasing slightly with every turn he made. He had to get back to the HQ as quick as he could. There had to have been, at least, one hundred Mettaurs on that single street alone. And though he knew Mets were weak when their helmets were up, if Alpha turned his back on one side, the ones behind him would get him.

'_You're his only hope on this one, Franco. You can do it.'_

He twisted his head to the right, watching another group of Reploids fighting a swarm of what must have been Mavericks, since they were the only thing that traveled in packs. He hesitated for a second, but then turned his head back, running toward the base at full force, his eyes searching for the familiar doors he had exited and entered everyday.

'_Almost there Bread Man..'_

Bleu unleashed the charged shot over the hover car, the shot zipping past Fidget's crouched form and blowing a massive hole in the Maverick horde. She aimed over the top of the battered automobile, firing a continuous volley of shots toward their opposition. Orichalcon stood at her side, aiming carefully with each shot, the lasers tearing through the bodies of the Mavericks. Orichalcon noticed that Bleu was no longer firing.

"Bleu?" She didn't look at him, but kept staring in the same direction. He followed her gaze, "Who the hell is that?"

The two watched as a blue Reploid ran past at a quick pace, with what looked like a body hanging across his shoulder. Orichalcon turned his gaze away from the running Reploid in time to fire off one of his laser, the thin beam cutting through a plasma shot and into the face of the Joe that shot it.

"Bleu! Pay attention!"


	25. Chapter 24

** Chapter 24 - Unexpected Allies**

The flame from the small fire had all but died, and Claude had decided that now would be a good time as ever to start out for Dr. Faern's laboratory with the two prototype robots. Burn was still out there contemplating on who knows what, while Quick was a few feet away from him, sleeping like he had been doing an hour ago. Claude pushed himself to his feet and walked over to the slumped over bot's form.

"You got the same idea that I got, Master Claude." Claude turned to watch Burn come back around the corner and into the small alley.

"Watching for Mavericks?" Burn nodded, turning his head toward Quick, "Hurry and awaken him, Master Claude, we must get going.

Claude nodded and took Quick's left gauntlet into his hand, searching for the small button underneath it. He finally located it, and gave a smile as he pressed the button firmly. Quick's eyes flashed on, and then immediately flickered and went out. Burn stared in disbelief, as did Claude, who turned his head toward Burn.

"He's gone.."

"He's pushed himself too hard, Master Claude. We will take him with us to Dr. Faern, hopefully he will be able to fix him."

"Hopefully.."

Burn stepped over to where Claude and Quick are and deactivated the flames streaming from his fingers. He took hold of Quick's shoulders and hefted him up off the ground, carrying his limp form like it was a baby. Claude got to his feet and followed him out of the alley and in the direction of Faern's laboratory and house.

'_I hope he doesn't kill me when he sees me.. I was never one of the good guys, anyway.. Doesn't fit my personality, but I guess that's going to change..'_

Lizzy leapt through the doorway as Shift removed his blob-like form away from it. She landed on a Joe, one end of her double-ended beam axe cleaving into the Joe's back, the other end swinging forth and taking out a line of Maverick Birds coming in to drop a row of plasma down upon her.

Shift slid out through the door as a puddle of goo-like substance and then rose upward away from the ground, wrapping his entire entity about the much larger form of a D-10. He began to constrict his body down upon the hulking Reploid. The D-10's body began to give underneath the immense amount of pressure be put upon it from Shift, and it cracked and rippled. It snapped underneath the force and crumpled up within Shift's form. He absorbed the crushed material into himself, using the material and energy to repair and replenish his wasted energy.

Blues stood firmly in the doorway to the building where Faern and Mega Man were. His right arm was pointed ahead of him and out toward the street, his buster gleaming brightly every few seconds as he let out a half-charged blast of plasma into an oncoming Maverick. Those that got past Shift and Lizzy would not be getting past him. Though the only ones that ever did get past them were Mets and Joe's, because the two of them were busy with the stronger Maverick forces.

Shift morphed his right hand into a buster and then took off running. He aimed recklessly, strafing across the road at the Mavericks still heading toward them. His buster went off rapidly, peppering the front row of the horde of irregular Reploids, multiple ones exploding after a few shots ransacked their forms. He came to a stop and smirked as Lizzy landed next to him, a dark grin on her lips.

"I love my job, Shift." He only laughed.

Sebastian set down a pair of tools upon the table in front of him, a sheet was covering this Reploid. He turned about and walked over to his computer, and snatched up the grey phone setting next to the keyboard. He tapped in a phone number rather quickly and waited as it dialed the person. The person answered after the third ring.

"Faern, here."

"Hello Christopher." Faern took a moment before responding, "Hello Robert."

"I'm rather glad to hear your voice. I thought you might've been dead by now. Obviously, I'm misunderstanding your capability to survive against my Reploids."

"Well.. I do have help." Faern's voice was low and calm as he spoke.

"Yes, I heard. They damaged both of my strongest Reploids. It seems the Maverick Hunters from the past were just as strong then as they are now. This disappoints me, Faern."

"Why is that?"

"I wanted more of a challenge."

"Wha-" Faern began, but Sebastian interrupted him, "I'll make a deal with you, Faern. Since we **are **both well established scientists and Roboticists."

"What's the deal, Robert?"

"If you can survive the next wave of Mavericks, I'll stop my attacks for two months and let you work up a fighting chance. You may think you have one now, but you don't have as many Hunters as I do Mavericks. And I'm much quicker at producing stronger Reploids than you are, and you know it."

"..." Faern was silent for a few minutes, contemplating over this, but Robert was tired of waiting, "While you think that over. Tell me something Faern.. Where is Claude?"

"Claude?" Robert was getting annoyed, "Yes, Faern, Claude. Enzan's brother and my protege. He has to be there, because he isn't here. And I will gladly send more than enough Mavericks to run down your entire laboratory if you don't return him to me."

"I don't have him!"

"Don't lie to me, Faern! You're the only other person he would go to!"

"Well, he's not here!" Robert twisted the phone cord angrily, "Give me your answer, now Faern."

"You have a deal, Robert." Faern's voice was still calm, but it waved slightly.

"That's good, Faern. I wouldn't want to have to kill you. Oh wait.. Yes I would."

He hung the phone up with a slam, sighing heavily. He turned away from his computer and the phone and walked back over to the table with the sheet-covered Reploid. He threw the sheet off to reveal a Reploid with armor the color of crimson, which sparkled brilliantly in the fluorescent lighting. The helmet was topped with two 'horns', and the center of the helmet had a blue crystal resting there. Through a slot in the back slid through the Reploid's mane of golden hair. Robert smirked a little, tapping his finger lightly against the chest, where two rounded gems had been removed.

"You're going to do perfectly, Zero."

Mega Man rested against the steel walls of the corner where he had put himself when the fighting had started outside. He sighed heavily, pulling his knees up against his chest, staring blankly at the floor panels, wincing every time he had an explosion outside. He turned his head a bit and watched Blues in the doorway, his buster going off every few seconds, an explosion following seconds afterward.

'_I always thought that Blues would have been the first one to quit fighting.. To stop before I did. He's much stronger than he used to be.. I don't even think that Dr. Light would recognize his son if he saw him today..'_

He turned his head toward Faern, who had just gotten a phone call and was finishing it up, when he slammed it down into the receiver, grinding his teeth together. The doctor looked over at him and shook his head, sighing and reaching under the desk. He pulled out a pistol and flicked off the safety. He glanced back over at Mega Man and shrugged, "Just in case, you know.."

'_No.. I don't know. I've never known. I wasn't born a fighter, I was made one. Voluntarily, heh.. I remember that day. Giving myself to the fight, battling Wily's Robot Masters, going through his fortress and eventually beating him.. Arresting him.. And then him getting free a few weeks or months later, and we repeat it all over again..'_

Mega Man looked down at his right hand and then morphed it into the buster that he had always had. He set his left hand on top of the rounded surface, touching the power bar in the middle. He shook his head and changed it back to normal, but his eyes never left his right hand.

'_Am I doing the right thing.. ?'_

One of the larger Mets beeped loudly. All of the other Mets turned and stared at the one that had made a sound. He raised a small antennae-type object out of its head and began to transmit a message to the other eleven Mettaurs around him.

"I am going to go help. Who's with me?"

All of the Mets went crazy and began to beep and scramble to their feet, their helmets all tipped back so that they could actually walk and see as they went. The large one lead the way as they made their way toward the door, where one of the large Reploids was.

Mega Man watched as the group of a dozen Mets made their way to the door. He smirked a little, watching them waddle and bounce their way around Blues' feet and out the door to the outside. He shook his head slowly, setting his left hand to his forehead.

'_Even the Mets, who stand no chance, are willing to fight.. Maybe I'm wrong and what I thought was right is really wrong.. Am I being selfish? No! I've fought enough! I've battled more robots than any of these Reploids put together! I've fought too long to do it again.. I'm not the 'hero' I once was..'_

He pulled his hand away from his forehead and looked up, watching as the two Reploids and Blues came back into the lab. The girl Reploid had a few burn marks on her shoulders and legs, but she didn't seem to mind. The silver Reploid was not damaged at all, then again, he was made of goo of some sort. Blues was in perfect condition, he had kept the fort held whenever the other two let anything past. Mega Man pushed himself to his feet and then smiled to himself as all dozen of the Mets came waddling back into the laboratory.

"I have something to tell all of you."

Faern set the pistol down on top of his desk and turned back toward the four of them. He stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his lab coat and cleared his throat. He looked each one of them in the eyes in turn, before he decided to speak, and when he did, it was in a slow manner. He didn't want to get them too alarmed.

"This is rather important matter I'm going to tell you.. Don't get upset, or mad, or scared."

"Get to it already," Lizzy's voice was slightly menacing to the good doctor, he cleared his throat once more.

"Another wave of Mavericks is coming our way. If I live through it.. If.. Then Sebastian is going to stop attacking people for two months. Giving us enough time, so he thinks, to make a substantial enough force to be able to fight him on a full-scale level." Shift shuffled his feet uneasily, "It sounds too unorthodox for him, don't you think Faern? Are you sure he's the only one behind this?"

"I really have no idea.. But we mustn't lose this laboratory. This is the only computer, apart from his and the one in the Hunter HQ, that is capable of processing all of the data need for Reploid construction." Blues, who was looking over at the silent Mega Man, turned his head to Faern, "Then we know what we have to do.. We have to keep this place, and you, intact."

"We will succeed." Everyone turned to look at Mega Man, who had spoken.

"Are you going to help?" Mega Man bit his bottom lip and stared at the floor, "In anyway I can without having to fight."

Claude and Burn had been walking for about two hours when Claude finally spotted the back side of Faern's house, the back being where the laboratory was located. He motioned for Burn to walk in that direction, as he headed for the door. The large bot stood a few feet behind him as Claude knocked on the door. There was the shuffling of multiple feet behind the door before it finally opened, only wide enough for a face to come through.

"Hel-.. CLAUDE?"

"Hello doc.." Faern swung the door open and came out and stood in front of him, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to find Enzan, is he here?" Faern shook his head, "No, I'm sorry, but he isn't."

"No time for this."

Burn stepped forward from behind Claude and stood as much as he could next to him as was possible. Burn brought Quick down off of his shoulder and laid him down in front of Faern, staring down at the scientist with a blank stare, but his voice portrayed all the emotion.

"Can you please repair our friend?" Faern looked from Burn to the robot laid in front of him, "I can try. Claude, help me, if you wouldn't mind."

"Of course."

Burn hefted the smaller Quick up into his arms once more and he was lead into the laboratory. He laid Quick down upon a table, noticing all the others within the room. Claude was looking at the four others in the room as well, notching two of them down as Blues and Mega Man. He had all their information on file back on his computer at Sebastian's lab.

'_I'll have to go get that sometime.'_

Blues walked over to the other side of the table and wheeled the waist-height trolley around to set at the head of the table, where all three of them would be able to reach it to get necessary instruments. The three of them; Enzan, Claude, and Blues, all began grabbing a variety of tools, getting to work on Quick's repairs before the second wave of Mavericks rushed to attack them.

Lizzy spun a screwdriver in her hand as she set about tightening the screws and other parts on her baton. She hadn't completed the repairs before AX had told her to get moving and get here. She had to fix them now before she got into another fight, or she would have to go into the fight with only her buster. She glanced over at Shift, who was making random weapons with his hands, alternating back and forth between the two hands.

"Getting ready, Shift?"

"Just looking through my weapon files.."

"Mm.."

Mega Man was still standing on the other side of the room as he watched Lizzy and Shift. They were experienced and easily took care of themselves. Lizzy approached Faern and asked a question, but he wasn't paying attention to catch it. But he figured it out as Faern pointed toward three Stasis Pods in the corner, and both Lizzy and Shift headed for two of them.

'_Resting up.. I should do the same, but I won't be fighting.. So what's the point? This isn't my world.. Mine was battling the same foe repeatedly, always knowing his tactics and always winning.. I'm not fit for this type of place, where the enemies come after you, instead of you going after them.. Someone get me out of here.. I miss you Dr. Light..'_


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25 - Guest of Calamity**

The cloaked figure set his hands on the head of the metal table, where the completed Reploid known as Trigger was laying. He reached his hand out over the table and closed Trigger's chest panel, sliding the armor back over that small part. He had yet to activate the Reploid made of spare Hunter parts, but he knew that the Reploid would obey him and do as he wanted him to do, no matter what. His programming didn't exceed past that of a normal worker Reploid.

Trigger has no hands, only cannons in the place of where hands should be. The shots fired from his hand-cannons are called 'Ripper Beams' and they can pierce through almost any type of material. It is believed that they can even pierce through the purest of Metool alloy, tearing a hole the size of a softball into the metal.

Atop Trigger's left shoulder is another cannon. Trigger was built for power, to destroy anything and everything without having to worry about the consequences. The shoulder cannon's blast was about six times larger than that of the 'Ripper Beams' and was capable of destroying the entire bottom floor of a building if he aimed it correctly.

Trigger, though made from spare parts, looked the part of a Hunter. He had silver armor that gleamed, even in the florescent lighting of the room they were in. The carbon rubber suit beneath was a soft golden color, which was also the color of the spikes upon his helmet, the tips of his boots, the joining parts of the armor on the lower portion of the boots, and the design upon his chest.

'_Well, Trigger.. The only thing left to do is activate you.. I hope that you actually work.'_

The rusted old doors to the factor creaked as they began to open, steam exploded from the joints, wafting out into the beginning of the factory. The smoke stayed low to the ground, for it had no place to escape to. Some of it drifted up to the rafters, billowing outward into the rest of the factory. The man in the cloak heard nothing as a long figure strolled into the factory, the doors sweeping closed behind him.

Sigma had built a Reploid at the beginning of the Sigma Wars, and all of the experience that he had acquired throughout the years was directly transmitted from him into the programming of his Reploid. The purpose of this Reploid was to take over where Sigma left off, no matter when it was, but each time that Sigma had lost, the activation of this Reploid never occurred because the Mavericks had discovered that Sigma was still alive before they could initiate the activation of him.

The Reploid was placed levels beneath the bases that Sigma acquired all through the Sigma Wars. Each time Sigma was destroyed, rebuilt, and established a new fortress, the pod containing the Reploid was moved as well. After being destroyed for the fourth time, Sigma finally came up with a name for him. He named him.. Azazel.

In Sigma's final moments with Zero in the base he had constructed in Calamity, Sigma had set about inputting the codes Azazel's pod. The activation sequence shouldn't have taken more than five minutes, ten minutes tops, but what with Zero self-destructing the entire base, the final code was left half-finished and the computer had to randomly insert codes to finish it off. It had taken almost two hundred years to finally get the last three digits into the code, but it had been done.

Azazel was finally free, and he was finally going to do what Sigma had built him for. He was going to start where Sigma left off, and wipe out the humans from the Earth. And then, he was going to destroy the Maverick Hunters. X and Axl were on the top of his list, and he wasn't going to let them get away.

Azazel's pod was empty in the sixth level beneath the Maverick factory. It had taken him a few weeks to finally get free and upon doing it, came in contact with his very first Reploid. He couldn't defeat this one in combat, so they 'allied' together and decided they would work together for their goals.

The two of them had activated the factory, though the other Reploid had gotten the call. They had both done their part in getting the factory up to par for mass-Maverick production. It had taken from two, maybe three, days to complete all the necessary protocols to get the factory up and running efficiently, but they had done it. And now they were on their way to becoming two of the richest Reploids ever. Though money meant nothing to either of them. Money was not power anymore, intelligence was power.

Azazel made his way up the rickety staircase tot he office where his 'partner' was located. He stood in the door way, creating a shadow across the room. The man in the cloak looked up from his work and shook his head. Azazel was bigger than the other Reploid, despite the cloak shrouding the other Reploid's form. Azazel knew who he was.

"How goes the progress?"

Down beneath the factory within Calamity, down lower than even Azazel's pod. Deep within the basement levels of the factor.. A single computer lay dormant. The computer screen suddenly came to life. The screen was flashing a dark red repeatedly, displaying erroneous messages in black text against the red background. The screen suddenly went black, and then came back up as blue.

Across the bottom of the screen, a download bar appeared and it began the process of downloading whatever file had just been sent. It was transmitting rather quickly for a three hundred year old computer. The blue background began to shimmer, and then suddenly shattered.

In its place, static erupted. The center of the screen began to blur and then the static was pulled into a small black-hole type thing. The bottom of the screen suddenly changed to a dark toned flesh color, and a face slowly began to develop as the file downloaded more and more. As it neared completion. The computer was still displaying messages in illegible text, all of them appearing off to the side, away from the head.

When the download had gotten halfway completed, and the head was almost half done. The mouth began to move, mouthing words that couldn't be understood, even if you could read lips. The erroneous messages vanished and a small bar appeared below the download bar. Words began to flash inside this little text box, where the face was obviously communicating to me from.

Out of all of the words that appeared on the screen, only one of the words could be made out. Even in the illegible text, this one word was always understood. The word was the name of one of the largest horrors ever to be known by the Reploid Era. That word was the name of.. Sigma.

"How goes the progress?"

The cloaked figure came out from around the table, pulling the black sheet back over the body of Trigger. He hadn't been expected Azazel for at least a few more days, he didn't think that the 'Maverick Prince' was going to endure his presence if the need wasn't necessary, but apparently, he was wrong.

"The Mavericks have been coming out as quick as they can. And no machine has begun malfunctioning."

"Mmm.. That is good, very good indeed."

"Have you found what you were looking for yet, Azazel?"

"The search continues, but I believe I may be getting close to my goal. Hopefully, my search is well worth it in the end."

"We can only hope."

"That is true, Z-" The cloaked figure lifted his hand away from his side, the cloak streaming down his arm, stopping Azazel, "No."

"Hmm.. No?"

"That is no longer my name, Azazel." Azazel set his arms across his chest, tilting his head forward slightly, "Then what would you like me to call you?"

"I have taken upon the name of this town.. Call me.. Calamity."

"... Of course.. Calamity."

The download began to quicken as it finished off the last few pieces of data that were being transferred from some unknown computer elsewhere on Earth. The download suddenly finished, and the face upon the screen slowly tilted backward, revealing the bald head that of Sigma. The singular red gem within his forehead gleamed upon the screen. He curled his lips into a sneer and began laughing, slow and evil. He pursed his lips into a fine line, his eyes drawing into dark slits, the purple scars across his eyes moving with his eyes.

"I have return once more to haunt your dreams, Hunters.."

"Prepare to meet your end at the hands of.. SIGMA!"

Sigma's head tilted back on the screen and through his pale, metallic lips, the most sadistic laugh strove forth, piercing through the silence of the deepest level of the factory. Sigma continued to laugh, three more downloads appearing on the screen. Each folder that appeared upon the completion of the download held his previous battle armors and those that were yet to come.

"I won't go down that easily this time, X.. Or you either Zero.. Both of you are going to feel the power of a **TRUE MAVERICK**!"

As Azazel made his leave from the office within the factory, Calamity set his hands lightly upon the desk on the opposite side of the room. He peeled his cloak off, revealing dark red armor, with golden armor strewn across his chest in an 'X' pattern, and golden armor had been added to reinforce the ankles of his boots, as well as the lining of his shoulder pads. He turned back toward the table containing Trigger, his mane of blonde hair sweeping along behind him.

'_Now is going to be the best time to activate him.. But why do I have a sudden feeling of dread..'_

Calamity slid the panel off of Trigger's chest armor and opening the paneling. He flicked a switch and slid both the paneling and chest armor back into the place. He took a step back as Trigger began to activate. A sudden spark exploded from his neck and he rose from his table, leaping off and landing heavily beside it. The newly activated Reploid let out a single, blood-thirsty shriek, before running from the room.

"**SHORYU**! **YOU'RE MINE**!"

Across the room from the computer, four pods began to rise up from the ground. Each one containing a different looking Reploid than the one before it. One of the Reploids was a female, while the rest were shorter and male.

"You four.. Are the perfect group of X-Hunters, I have ever seen.. You will serve me well.. You four are capable of doing what Agile, Violin, and Serges failed at doing all those times before.. Fail me, and your fate will be **worse** than death."


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26 - First Aid Kits**

X watched as 32 crept back into the room where the stasis pods were located and acquired his detached arm. He came back into the room where X was and began to reattach it, fixing up the shorted components while coupling the broken wires between the base of the shoulder and top of the arm.

'_Well.. The fun is over for now.. I should go check up on PX..'_

X heaved himself away from the wall and exited the small room, his metallic feet clanking their way all the way down the hall. He turned down a hallway and made his way to where the door was located on the floor.

32 glanced up from his work, noticing that X was gone. He tapped the keyboard in front of him with his good hand, checking the scanners. The external one had suddenly gone off. It was about a mile away from the entrance to the base, so someone was coming back.

"Not now of all times, dammit.."

He spun around in the chair and finished the repairs quick, doing a shoddy job of it. He returned to the stasis room and snatched up his hammer, using his good arm to swing it and setting it up on top of his good shoulder as well. He stood a few feet from the door, making sure he was invisible to anyone that passed.

Franco's buster exploded with energy, sending shrapnel all around him as he took a point-blank shot at the door. It had been locked and coded from the inside and he couldn't get it open, the only way in was to blow it open. He stepped through it gingerly, making sure to not bump Bread Man's body into the sharp, broken edges of the door.

'_The labs have always been downstairs.. I hope that they haven't remodeled since the deactivation!'_

He leapt down the staircase, landing in a cloud of dust at the bottom of the first flight of stairs. Bread Man's body teetered a bit, so he readjusted his body, taking another leap and landing down in the basement, a much larger cloud of dust and dirt exploding from contact with the floor. Franco started coughing, using his free hand to cover his mouth.

"Ugh.. This place needs a maid."

X walked slowly down the corridors, his eyes wandering about the structures about him, yet he didn't see anything. His eyes just roamed. He closed his eyes and stood in the middle of the hallway, making no movement whatsoever.

'_It was only a few hours ago that I was in that stasis pod.. Only a few hours ago, that I didn't know what was going on.. A few hours ago, I was fighting X1.. This is going to take some getting used to. It was always, mission after mission, with rarely any breaks between..'_

He opened his eyes once more and began walking down the halls. He stopped and turned to the right, walking up to the broken down silver door. He paused for a moment and stared at the fallen door. He crouched down and hefted it up, leaning against the wall to the right of the doorway, letting it tilt there.

'_I wonder if PX is completely repaired yet.. Only one way to find out.'_

He walked into the dimly lit room and stopped a few feet from the pods, staring at the pod he had put PX in. It was now empty. He swept his eyes about the room and stopped them on a shadowed form a few inches from him.

"PX."

"Hello X."

PX stepped out of the shadows and into the dim green light of the pods. He stared down at himself, while X did the same, both of them were slightly baffled by the 'upgrade' that PX was supposed to have received while in the pod.

"More like a downgrade.."

"Maybe it gave you something new?"

PX's form was the same as it always had been, it was the same structure and design as his original form. His helmet was more aerodynamic to his head now, more than it used to be, and the design on the helmet's front was slightly altered. His armor was now back to the normal colors, where the armor was red and the carbon suit was grey. The golden stripes across the front of his carbon suit were gone, as well as the stripe on his chest plate. His belt had returned around his waist and about his neck was the golden scarf he hadn't word for years. PX reached back and unlatched the shield on his back, putting it between X and him.

"Dr. Light turned you back into who you really are."

"Proto Man X."

"The Lencin Armor is damaged beyond repair.. Or so I'm told."

"Lencin Armor?"

"What I was in when you put me in the pod.. It was an armor I had designed while protecting you. It was in case my normal body was destroyed."

"Ah.. It did it's job well then."

"Short-lived usage. Maybe I can get it back later."

"Maybe."

"..."

"..."

"Well, this is a lovely conversation."

PX smirked and then nodded. X turned and exited the room, with PX following. Both of them left Axl within the pod, not activating it. X walked off down the hallway as PX stopped in front of the door, placing it back into place. He set his hand over the small panel at the top and the door resealed, the locks reinserting themselves, despite the door's broken condition.

32 completed the repairs on his arm while waiting for the intruder to come into the lab, or anywhere near the lab, so that he could jump out and get him without being spotted. He thinned his lips and began to breathe slowly, letting his breath out in small wisps. He curled his fingers tighter about the haft of his hammer, taking it into both hands.

Franco ran down the hallway as quick as he could. He looked into every room he passed and was getting nowhere. He had already checked four rooms and not one of them had been a lab, all of them seemed to be personal quarters for Hunters and Scientists.

'_Dammit! Where are you 32!?'_

He stopped in front of the fifth door and opened it. He smiled widely as the door opened, revealing the room to be a laboratory. He ran into the room and stopped in his tracks, a loud crack of metal against metal resounded in the room.

"Ugh!"

Franco fell over forward, Bread Man's body falling limp from his shoulders. 32's hammer slid out from underneath Franco's form, which was now in the fetal position. He was gasping in pain as 32's eyes moved from the injured Franco to the limp form of Bread Man. Neither of them notice Enzan run into the lab, standing in the doorway, he gasped loudly

"**SHIT**!"

X and PX hadn't heard the noise of 32's hammer slamming into Franco's gut. Nor had they seen Enzan run into the lab, or yell. They had finally gotten to the hallway where 32's laboratory was located and X opened the door and stopped just inside of the room.

"I wonder where he went.."

"X."

"Yeah?"

X turned around and saw PX kneeling down by the doorway, there were new marks on the floor. They were of sneakers and much larger ones were around it. PX also pointed to a large wiped area that continued for a little bit and then disappeared.

"Enzan, 32, and someone else left. They were dragging something, and then picked it up."

"Follow it?"

"Follow it."

They turned away from the lab and ran back down the hallway they had just come, the lab door slid closed behind X as he left the room. PX watched the floor, making sure they didn't bypass the door to where the three other people had went to. He slid to a stop in front of a door and X opened it up. They look in and find 32, the human kid Enzan, a critically damaged Reploid laying on a table, and a Reploid that looks sort of like Zero, but completely different.

32 turned to the door and motioned them in. He placed X up on the table beside that of the critically damaged Reploid. X got a better look and saw that he had a hole about the size of a softball all the way through his chest.

"I'll get to you in a minute, X, I'm going to repair you. It shouldn't take me to long, I doubt there is any internal damage."

Enzan was on the opposite side of the room with a table that had wheels. He was grabbing random instruments from the cabinets and drawers, setting them down on the table. He spun the table around and pushed it back to where it was right between the two tables. PX moved out of the way and sat on an unused table on the other side of the room. Franco joined him on that side, leaning against the wall right next to the table.

"I'll need some help, aside from you Enzan.. Aasterinian," 32 spoke toward where PX and Franco were.

The wall behind PX and Franco split open and slid apart, a female figure stepping through into the florescent lighting of the medical bay. She was adorned in a dark blue dress that hung all the way down her and touched the tops of her shoe-shaped boots, the dress accentuating her bust. Enzan stared for a moment and then shook his head.

'_Whoever made her was a pervert..'_

She lifted her right hand up and pushed her aqua-green hair out of her face, turning her attention toward 32, who was waiting patiently between the two tables. X had laid down on the table and was relaxing.

"Do you require some assistance, doctor?" Enzan noted that her voice held a musical tone to it.

The pod room where Axl was gleamed a little brighter for a moment, before his pod began to shift on its stand. Axl's eyes had suddenly shot open and it seemed like he was drowning in the restorative liquid that all Reploids are placed in during repair. He slammed his fists into the glass multiple times, beginning to break it. The glasses suddenly ruptured and he went tumbling out upon the floor. He gasped heavily, spitting out the light green liquid.

"Horrible.. Horrible nightmare.. Sigma.. Back.."

His eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he toppled over forward, laying flat against the floor, his systems switching off and putting him into an automatic repair of his entire system. His programming had thought something had been corrupted and immediately went into fixing it. They would find nothing.


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27 - Group Effort**

Giro, Velocity, and Iylth all stepped from their pods simultaneously, immediately acting upon the situation. Iylth made sure to stick close to both Giro and Velocity, for they were more of the 'powerhouses' of the groups, while Iylth was usually a range-unit, and also because both Velocity and Giro had visors that let them see through the smoke filtering throughout the room. Giro's shield appeared within his hands suddenly, as one of Reaver's claws came hurtling through the smoke. The claws tore through the ethereal image of the shield and into its physical form, embedding into it a bit.

"Shit," Giro ground his teeth, holding the shield steady within his hands.

Iylth dove backward, rolling to his feet behind his pod, his hands running over the jutting surface of the bottom of the pod, searching from something, anything. His hands finally worked their way to about halfway up the bottom part of the pod and looped his fingers around something long, cold, and cylindrical.

Velocity stayed behind Giro, who was keeping the shield steady. Velocity's hand began to get an ominous glow about it, a soft hum emanating from the base of his palm, where the charger was. Energy began to swirl around his fingertips, creating a circular form of energy about his entire hand.

"You can't kill me." Velocity smirked darkly as his cannon reached max on its charge.

'_I beg to differ.'_

The small shuttle made its way quickly toward its destination, the thrusters increasing their energy output due to Duo's massive size. Duo's large hands gripped the tiny controls loosely, making sure not to crush them with his strength. He steered the shuttle toward the spectacular D-Port.

'_Just as grandeur as it always has been..'_

Centuries before 20XX, there was a civilization of robots that lived universes away from the one in which Mega Man would eventually be 'born' in. This universe was completely robot dominant, there were no humans anymore, they all had passed. The only thing they had left behind was a race of robots capable of doing everything that they had been able to do. This race was called the 'Sentinels.'

According to their history records, there was a singular problem in this universe that could never be corrected, no matter how hard anyone ever tried. This one problem was known only as Dark Energy. Dark Energy was capable of taking control of a robot completely and thoroughly and boosting their energy and power beyond the imagination.

The Sentinels had 'caught' some of the Dark Energy and nullified it, making an energy known as Light Energy, for it was capable of cancelling out Dark Energy, even overpowering it at times. Every robot made for combat purposes was outfitted with a core that used Light Energy, and a battle that continues on today was waged.

The Dark Energy was cunning and quick. It destroyed the Light energy based robots and continued on its conquest. Unfortunately for the robot race, the Dark Energy had created a tear in the universe and was beginning to traverse to different universes. They had to create a way of stopping this. The Sentinels formed the 'Multiverse Police.' A corporation of highly skilled Sentinels that traversed the Multiverses, removing the existence of the Dark Energy.

The Multiverse Police created a contraption called the D-Port. The D-Port's only function was to create ways for their shuttles to move between universes. The machines were highly unstable at times, and were sending agents to the wrong areas, but the errors have been corrected and the D-Ports are now stable, and work efficiently. Shipping out thousands of agents in a single day, if necessary.

Duo was created for the sole purpose of being an agent of the Multiverse Police. His first assignment was to travel to 20XX of Mega Man's time and remove the Dark Energy that had shown up. Despite being an excellent pilot, he crashed and was damaged. He was repaired by Dr. Light and became fast friends with Mega Man, who he fought alongside against Wily's Dark Energy infected Robot Masters.

Upon the completion of his mission, Duo inserted a special device into the wiring of Mega Man's gauntlet. It was there for whenever Mega Man might need some help. Duo then returned home, where he was questioned on his primitive, yet effective new arm. He refused to get it replaced, showing it as a souvenir of his first successful mission. And a memoir of his friendship with Mega Man and Dr. Light.

Duo tilted the sticks slowly, the shipping slowly swinging its body toward the massive D-Port, he inputted his authorization code and watched each number and letter pop up on to the screen before him, as he finished the code, the machine sank back into the console of the ship, and it ended with a soft, "Thank you."

The D-Port itself was a massive oval hovering in space. The outer rings spun in a slow rotation about the center of the construct. The rings just inside of the outer rings spun opposite of the outer. Between the rings electricity sparked, showing that the opposite rotation, though it looked meaningless from afar, was actually the real reason the D-Ports stayed open. Within the center of both sets of rings was a dark green swirling mass of nothingness. And that's exactly where Duo was heading.

Reaver jerked his arm backward, his claws releasing from Giro's shield, retracting his claws back to their normal position. He twisted his body around, 'cocking' his arm and letting it fly toward one of the other members of his little entourage, the claws streaking through the smoke toward Iylth's unprotected form.

"I will kill every last one of you!"

Iylth jerked back with all his strength, the cold steel fighting against him for only a moment before it snapped at both ends. He rolled backward and then up to his feet, all in one fluid motion. He flicked his right wrist, sending the blunt end of the pole straight into the oncoming set of claws that Reaver had let loose upon him. The pole made contact and sent the claws around the entire pod. Iylth watched as Reaver's arm seemed to disintegrate and reform on the other side, retracting.

"Welcome back, Poley!" He spun the pole within his grasp, thinning his lips, _'This is going to suck..'_

Shori slipped his way through the thick smoke, he could see Reaver's silhouette through the grey. It was kinda hard to miss, he noted, since Reaver's hands were claws, they were extremely noticeable.

'_Is he looking? Take the chance..'_

Shori's katars slid free from their holsters within his grip, and he launched his body toward Reaver's silhouette. He came close enough to strike his fellow team-mate, and he went for the strike. His left katar tore through the smoke, but his body was jerked away at the last moment. Reaver had seen him. Shori's form slammed into the thick wall on the far side of the room, the claws tearing into his sides.

"Reaver!" Velocity's voice split the silence.

'_Holy crap this hurts.. Ugh..'_

Velocity steadied his arm as he watched the gauge on his gauntlet reach the max. He crouched low to the ground, aiming his hand carefully, the glow intensifying, before finally it seemed like something snapped within his hand. A blast erupted forth from the center of his palm, tearing through the smoke entirely, like the splitting of the Red Sea.

"**Shit**!" Reaver's voice croaked through the smoke.

The blast made contact with Reaver's entire left side, incinerating the nanites that formed his shoulder and arm, freeing Shori from his trap against the wall. Shori dove from his wall trap as the blast continued on, blowing a hole the size of almost double of Shori's body into the wall. Velocity grit his teeth, beginning the charge once more, his hand once again beginning to tinge with the sensation.

Duo's ship was almost immediately thrust forth into the D-Port, the small ship cascading into the green swirling mass of nothing. His sirens and alarms went off, screeching loudly in his ears. This had never happened before. He grabbed the sticks tightly and jerked them sharply to the right, away from the D-Port, but it already had a hold of his tiny shuttle, and it wasn't going to let go of him. The sirens continued to wail as he went spiraling into the spiral jade portal, vanishing within it.

Shori pushed himself to his feet, leaping backward toward the wall, kicking off of it and gliding through the air. His katars tensed at his sides as he dropped toward Reaver's melting figure. He swung both katars in a 'X' formation. Reaver twisted his form slightly, both katars catching on the horns of the helmet.

'_What the hell? I never miss!'_

Shori's gaze jerked away from Reaver's form, moving toward Velocity's hand, which was sparkling an ominous blue. He grit his teeth and slammed his knee forward into Reaver's face, the clap of metal resounding throughout the small room. Shori tilted his form forward, pushing over Reaver and leaping upward.

Velocity's cannon had completed its second charge much quicker than the first. He aimed more carefully than he had the first time and waited for Shori to leap away from the target. His hand vibrated for a second and then the blast erupted from his palm. Reaver's form twisted around to face the blast, striking him full on.

'_Why didn't he dodge..'_

Iylth crept out from behind the pod, spinning Poley still. Giro appeared at his side and led him through the smoke that was beginning to filter out of the room through the hole in the wall that Velocity had created. Velocity was already standing where Reaver had been, Shori approaching him.

"Did we win?" Shori retracted his katars as he spoke.

"Not a trace is left, Shori."

"My cannon is more effective than it used to be, heh."

"We should probably get going.. Find the local HQ and return to active duty." Iylth was always one for seriousness, usually.

"Iylth has been reunited with Poley. The world will not be coming to an end now!" Iylth swatted Velocity in the back of the head with the weapon, Velocity rubbed the back of his head lightly, "Ow."

"Let's go.."

Shori turned and made his way out of the room, away from the pods and back up to where the altar and pews were. Iylth and Giro quickly followed, leaving Velocity in the basement alone He turned around and around on the spot where Reaver had been when the blast had connected, or he **thought** it had connected.

'_As powerful as it is.. Reaver could take it. We'll be seeing him again.' _"See you later, Reaver."

And with a final wave, Velocity made his way out of the room, following the other three up the stairs and out of the church's basement. He rejoined them at the altar, helping Shori to replace his pod back into the flooring. As they finished the job, they turned and exited the holy place.

"Amen." Iylth was barely above a whisper.

The footsteps were no longer audible, the coast had finally become clear. Reaver slid his form out from between the rafters and dropped silently to the floor. He deactivated his cloaking and stood in the middle of the room. The smoke had all cleared out and he was standing in a bare room, the only thing ornamental was the four pods aligned across the far wall. He turned his gaze toward his left arm.

"Lucky shot, Velocity.."

The arm began to regrow as he spoke, the nanites built into his frame automatically repairing the damage. He had delayed their work so that the four of them wouldn't notice that he could repair all the damage they had done to him. He stretched out as the final repair was finished; it had only taken a minute or two.

"The Hunters become the hunted.. Overused, I'm sure.."

He made his way out of the basement of the church and stopped at the altar. He slammed his claws through the slender wood, sending the hallow pedestal across the room, splinters raining down upon the pews. The wooden construct struck the wall, then clattered loudly to the floor.

Duo's head cracked against the metal paneling on either side of his seat, he was getting a severe headache, and getting extremely nauseous. He kept his eyes open during the entire travel through the D-Port, which went by like seconds. He ripped through the either side, the ship still spiraling. He wrenched at the sticks, turning the ship out of its spiral and settling it straight. He breathed heavily, coughing a little bit.

"Space-sickness.. Ugh.."

He quickly spotted the outer ring of planets of the Milky Way galaxy. He shuttle quickly made its way past Pluto and it's singular moon. After a few seconds, he knew he had passed Neptune and Uranus' normal route around the sun, but he didn't see them.

'_Must be on the other side..'_

He steered the ship past the hulking structure of Saturn, twisting the sticks easily within his massive hands. He took another sharp turn, sliding past Jupiter's large form as well. He watched the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter emerge and he erected the shuttle's Firewall, the asteroids having little effect upon the ship. He exited the other side of the belt and made his way past the glowing red sphere of Mars.

"Good to be back, Blue Planet.."

Duo's ship closed in on Earth, the blueberry of the Milky Way Galaxy. He activated the atmospheric shielding of the shield and tilted the sticks back slightly, nosing the ship downward into the gravitational pull of the planet. The planet took hold, jerking the ship a little. The nose of the shuttle struck the atmosphere.

'_Deja vu..'_

The second the entire ship was taken into the atmosphere, Duo realized why he remembered this sensation before. It was the same as the last time he had come to Earth. And he knew just exactly how it was going to end.

"I'm going to crash!"

The landscape closed in quickly upon the shuttle's small form. Duo grit his teeth as he got closer and closer to the quickly approaching patch of green terrain beneath. He waited until seconds before impact and ripped a hole through the roof of the ship, throwing himself free of the crash. The shuttle struck earth, digging up a hole as large as a school bus, and it exploded once it had stopped.

Duo got to his feet and made sure that he wasn't missing anything important from his body. He walked over to the impact and scanned the damage of the ship from afar, thinking that something might be salvageable. He just shook his head.

"Looks like I'm screwed again.. Just great."


	29. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28 - The Darker Side**

Lull walked along behind Dark Squall, who kept kicking at the ground. Lull made a heavy growl in his direction, which forced him to look back at her. He perked an artificial brow and shook his head, leaping across a hole in the road. He landed lightly on the other side, activating his beam saber.

"Well.. Hello."

Lull landed behind him heavily, still standing, her axes crossed in front of her chest, the blades jutting out above her shoulders. Her lips twisted into a dark grin.

"Ahh.. Shit."

Blue grit his teeth; he had run right into two Mavericks at once, unintentionally. He quickly morphed both of his hands into busters and began charging them simultaneously. He leapt backward, unleashing a half charged shot at the smaller of the two Reploids, watching him dodge to the side and dash toward him.

'_Crap, crap, crap, crap..'_

He landed on top of a car, and flipped backward off the other side, peering through the broken windows as the Maverick's blade tore right through the car, cleaving it in half. Blue rolled to the side as the blade continued, a ground-wave ripping through the asphalt and connected with the side of the building behind him.

'_Just great.. Psycho chick with an axe.. And deadly midget with a beam saber that makes ground waves. Where's Flagpole when **I** need him?'_

Flagpole stopped in his tracks, sneezing loudly. He shook his head, recovering his senses after the artificial function. He looked around for a moment, but then continued running, hearing the sounds of battle ahead of him.

"I just hope that has nothing to do with Blue."

Blue's left buster began charging once more, since he had used that one to fire off the half-charged blast only seconds earlier. His right buster had completely charged and was vibrating noisily against his leg. He glanced through the window, waiting for the precise moment.

Dark Squall leapt upward, his beam saber clenched tightly within both of his hands. He slammed the dark blue saber into the road, the ground wave leaping upward at a tremendous rate, tearing through the side of the car. He grinned darkly as he watched the car split apart before him.

"You missed!"

Blue dove out from the side of the car, his right buster aimed before him. The fully charged blast leapt from the barrel's end, slamming straight into Dark Squall's form and sending him sprawling backward. Blue leapt to his feet, air dashing in the small Reploid's direction. He aimed his left buster down at his fallen form and fired again, the medium charged blast impacting with his stomach, jerking him painfully against the ground. Blue twisted his body around in mid-air and landed a few feet from Dark Squall's down form, both busters charging once again. His light blue eyes were following the female Reploid now.

Lull stood stalk still, her eyes following along the blue Reploid's movements. Her lips perked into a dark grin as she watched him take down Dark Squall in two shots. She swung her axes from across her chest to her sides, walking slowly across the road to where Dark Squall lay. She felt the blue one's eyes upon her with each step, her acute hearing picking up the humming of his two busters charging.

Dark Squall coughed, sending a dark red fluid all across his face and chin. He had been wounded, and wounded badly. He had to get Lull to take him back to Ragnarok for repairs. He tried to move, but he couldn't even flex his fingers. His eyes picked up movement, but it was fuzzy.

'_My vision is shot to hell too.. I'm a sitting duck here..'_

Suddenly, Lull's face came into view. She must be crouching over him, checking him, but he didn't feel her touching him anywhere. He then felt a solid object setting on his head, grasping his helmet tightly. He was being lifted away from the hole he had been planted in by the blue one.

'_Ugh.. Take me.. Home.. Lull..'_

Lull's axes were within her right hand together, her left hand was tightly grasping the helmet to her "partner," holding him up off the ground. She dropped one axe to the ground, letting the energy blade sinking into the asphalt pavement. She hefted the singular axe up and spun it within two fingers. Her lips twisted into a malevolent grin as she drove the axe through Dark Squall's neck.

Ragnarok's tentacles twitched, returning to his sphere-like shape. He twisted about for a moment, 'staring' around the room. The tentacles pushed out from his body again and returned to the Reploid body on the floor, sucking it dry of energy quickly, before he lost any.

'_Dark Squall has been destroyed.. One minion already destroyed. These menaces must be dealt with.. Fear and Climax will be the ones to do it.'_

Dark Squall's body fell away from his severed head, slumping against the floor heavily. She tossed the head up, swinging the axe quickly through it, cleaving it in half. The three sections of Dark Squall's body exploded all at once, Lull still standing amidst the fire and smoke, both axes clutched within her hands. Blue stared at her in silence, stunned by her act against her own partner.

Blue dashed backward quickly, firing off his right buster, the blast tearing up asphalt as it sped toward Lull's silent form. He watched in dismay as she swung one axe upward through the blast, stopping it in its tracks and dissipated it entirely. He rushed forward quickly, the boosters within his feet activating, pushing him forward quicker than before. He swept past Lull, but she anticipated this, slamming her right axe downward, the blade clipping the back of his left foot, tearing the thruster out.

"Shit!"

Blue tripped up on himself and crashed into the ground, rolling forward. He slammed into a nearby 'Stop' sign. His head reeled as he get back to his feet, evading quickly to the right as Lull came on him, her axe ripping through the sign, melting the pole and dropping the sign to the ground. Blue leapt backward quickly, firing off his other buster, the fully charged shot passing right by Lull as she sidestepped.

"Stop dodging, dammit!"

Flagpole rushed forward quickly, his form enlarging to his normal size. He lashed forward with his right hand, his knuckles connecting with the back of the Reploid's head, the black hair tumbling across his fingers. The Reploid with the axes when flying forward, slamming into the ground and digging a foot deep into the asphalt. Flagpole looked to Blue, who grinned and ran toward him.

"Go! Go now! Before she gets up and kills us!"

Flagpole gave a quick nod and followed after Blue, who took a sharp right turn into an alley and disappeared into the shadows. Flagpole's form followed suit, vanishing into the darkness of the shade of the alley.

Lull pushed himself from the rubble. The attack had taken her completely by surprise, she was usually able to detect all attacks, but not this one. She shook her head, setting her right hand to the back of her head, feeling the fluid leaking from her cracked skull. She grit her teeth angrily and swung around, staring all around.

'_The lullaby of death will find you.. And will ring in your ears for all eternity..'_

Climax dashed forward, the thrusters in his feet tearing through the ground as he swept along the terrain. He was going to get to that church and remove Fear's 'heart' with a loving hug from his giant steel claw. He grinned to himself as a shot rang out, plowing into his shoulder. It didn't effect him at all, only made him mad.

"What the hell.."

He looked up and morphed his right hand into the giant steel claw, launching it forward as he came to a stop. The claw slammed into three Joe's and snapped shut around them. He drew them back to him and then threw them aside, three separate explosions all sounding out off to his right. He growled at the rest of the group of Mavericks, dashing forward, morphing the claw back into his hand. He grabbed the hilts to his katanas and ripped them from their sheathes, whipping the two blades about him with extreme efficiency, the blades ringing loudly as they tore through each Reploid in turn, felling him.

Climax began laughing loudly, the two katanas dripping with the inner fluids from the Maverick group he just destroyed single-handedly. He spun the blades within his hands, letting the liquid splatted across the ground around him. He slid the blades back into their sheathes, explosions sounding all around him at the same instant. He took off running in the same direction he had been going, before he was rudely interrupted.

Fear stumbled free from the maze of tombstones within the church's graveyard. He dropped to the ground, swearing to himself. He pushed himself back up with his one hand and his eyes caught sight of something off to his right.

"What the hell.."

'_It's a Reploid.. Combat oriented.. Highly advanced. Heh..'_

"Sweet! A minion!"

'_Only you would be excited about a Reploid that, if alive, would kill you in an instant. Traces of viral coding are still intact.'_

"I'll purge his systems later, but first.. I have to get him, and myself, to Ragnarok and report in. That bastard better have a new body for me.. Or I'll kill him."

'_Right.. You. Killing a being of pure Dark Energy.. Fear, you make me laugh sometimes.'_

"Yeah, and you piss me off to no end. Shut up."

Fear reached down and grabbed the heavily damaged, but still intact, body of the Reploid. He tossed it over the shoulder with an arm still, holding it in place. He took a step forward, keeping his balance. He made his way out of the graveyard without anymore obstacles.

'_I hope you bring him back and he kills you.'_

CN made her way quickly through the city, her eyes darting back and forth quickly. Her job was to find any and all non-generic Reploids that weren't too heavily damaged. She was then supposed to bring them all back to Ragnarok, where upon he would reactivate them with a power-up of Dark Energy and then fix them.

'_The only problem is.. I'm not finding anything, dammit!'_

She came to a halt and kicked over the body of a generic nurse Reploid, revealing a group of combat Reploids underneath, all generic. She swore loudly and then spun around at the sound of something slimy sliding across the ground. Her eyes widened as a burst of tentacles spread out in her direction. She turned and ran back the way she came.

"Oh **HELL NO!** I am **NOT** a Japanese schoolgirl! Get the hell away from me!"

She slammed her foot into an oncoming tentacle that was trying to get her ankle. She turned and leapt over a pile of fluid splattered bodies and kicked off the wall of the building, dropping into the darkness of the alleyway. She landed in a huff, her eyes peering through the darkness.

"I thought the Nightmare collectors were all destroyed.. The hell is going on now.."

She shook her head and turned around, peering ahead of her for a few seconds before taking a careful step. She touched solid ground and began walking, taking the distance of the alley at a quick pace.

"Ow!"

Her left foot caught on something hard and sent her tumbling forward. She moved her arms out in front of her to catch her fall, but when her hands hit the ground, it broke open underneath her and went tumbling down into even more darkness, only this was complete and absolute darkness.

"Oh no.."

She whimpered in the dark, she never had liked being in the dark, especially not **total** darkness. She felt around in front of her and found a flat vertical surface. She moved her way up it and her fingers ran along something jutting out. It was small and easy to miss, but she pushed it up. The lights began to flicker and came on all around the underground prison. She gasped loudly, staring around.

"A lab.. Woohoo! I might find some Reploids here! Yay! Job well done, CN!"

After taking a ten minute tour of the entire structure, she came back to the room she had first fallen into and walked over to the computer that was right near the light switch. She sat down in the rusty old chair and booted up the computer. A white 'W' flashed on the screen and the computer began a full restoration. What blinked on to the screen next made CN gasp loudly.

"No way.."

Ragnarok drew the Reploid's body in from the outside, a tentacle wrapped about its next. It was still struggling. If Ragnarok had a mouth, he would have been grinning. He snapped his tentacle to the side, breaking the Reploid's neck, completely tearing it from the rest of the body. He dropped the Reploid head to the ground and began to drain what was left in the power core, 'grinning' still.

'_Dark Squall is dead.. CN has been in the same spot for the past twenty minutes.. Lull is off somewhere without Dark Squall.. And Climax is busy finding Fear. He better not botch things up with Fear, I need his assistance the most.. Him and Perfect Divine..'_

Climax's foot steps fell silently down upon the grass as he left the road. He glanced down as he felt the change of terrain. He slowed down to a walk and stepped upon the grass with ease. He stared up at the church before him, nodding lightly.

'_This is the place.'_

He glanced around and quickly noticed movement to his left. It was slow movement, but it was still movement. And only Fear was supposed to be out here. He turned his body in that direction, cupping his hands around his mouth.

"FEAR!" The movement stopped.

'_Aha!'_

Climax ran in that direction, morphing his hand into the giant steel claw. He came to a stop as Fear's body came into view. Climax swore internally and morphed the claw back into his hand. He set his hands upon his hips and stared up at the one-armed Reploid, eyeing the dead Reploid laid across his shoulder for a moment, before turning his attention back to him.

"Fear, I'm guessing."

"..."

"Cat got your tongue?"

".. Yes, I'm Fear."

"I'm Climax. Ragnarok's brother." Fear's eyes widened a bit, "Ragnarok has a brother?"

Lull ground her teeth together between tight lips. Her axes were clutched tightly within her hands as she leapt from roof to roof. She had quickly re-established her position after being attacked from behind. She was now on pursuit of the two Reploids, one was an unknown, but the other one was definitely the blue one she had encountered earlier.

'_And this time you won't escape me..'_

Flagpole ran along ahead of Blue, who was trailing behind him. He was tired, and was trying his best to keep up with his partner, but he had wasted a lot of energy in that last fight than he had wanted to.

"Flaggie! Slow it down a bit!"

"Come on, Blue! We can't stop! That crazy axe lady is following us!"

"What? Are you ser-**AHH!**"

Lull stood atop the blue Reploid's body, her axes poised at her sides. She swung the axe in her left hand forward, releasing it in the other Reploid's direction. He dodged to the side and enlarged in shape, punching forward quickly. Lull evaded to the side, and off the blue one, sweeping the other axe into the shape-shifting Reploid's side, digging the energy blade in deep.

Flagpole grabbed the woman by the waist and tore her away from his side, flinging her across the road, watching her slam into the ground and bounce against it. He shrank back down to normal, watching as she quickly got to her feet, wiping fluid from her lips.

"Blue.. We need to get out of here.."

Blue's busters had finished their charging. These two shots would be the last two he got off until he recharged. He dashed forward, sweeping past Flagpole's surprised form. He came in close to the female Reploid, who swung her axe for his head. His right buster went off, slamming straight into her right arm, blowing it clean off of her form, fluid and sparks ensuing from the breaking point. Her axe collided with Blue's shoulder, tearing in deeply. His other buster went off, but it missed as she slid to the side, ripping out the axe and slamming it down into his back.

"Gah! Flagpole!"

"Shit!"

Flagpole dashed forward quickly, his body growing to its max size, his fist half the size of the street and hit Lull straight in the side, sending her flying backward. Flagpole quickly snatched up Blue's limp body and turned, going back the way he had come, shrinking down to his normal size, dashing away quickly.

'_Damn you Blue.. You and your heroics.'_

Lull pushed herself to her feet, sighing a little. She reached her left arm up and set it against the base of her right arm, where fluid was continuing to leak from the wound. She kicked her axe up, catching it with her left hand. She replaced it in its case, same with her other axe. She glanced around for her removed arm, but couldn't find it. She shook her head and turned toward Ragnarok's base, activating the thrusters in her feet, dashing back.

'_Damn that blue Reploid.. **DAMN** him..'_


	30. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29 - Press Meeting**

Goompas let out a deep sigh, turning to face the collage of young and old faces alike of the scientists he had employed for this idea. He interlinked his fingers, setting his hands to the back of his head, staring up at the ceiling for a moment. He let out another sigh, nodding a bit.

"Alright, we can't let this interfere with the plans. Raijouta, you come with me. Everyone else, aside from Malone, Stabler, and Andehshun. You all prep the Wandering Souls. Dr. Silas, you get to work on establishing the teleportation grid. I want it up as quick as possible, I want those Reploids teleported **directly** into the conference room during my speech. The press will go frantic." He glanced around the room at all the faces.

"Get to work!" He clapped his hands together loudly, nodding to Raijouta.

Cicero slammed his hands down on to the elevator rails as it ascended up the passage. He stepped quickly from the platform, glancing back at it as it made its way back down the long shaft, steaming filtering upward from the notches on the top. He stood before the door, watching as it opened. He stepped through, shaking his head as it closed behind him.

'_Why hadn't I ever noticed it before..'_

Cicero sighed a little, shaking his head. He made his way down the hallway toward his office, where he would begin to pack his things up and resign from V.P. of the Global Utopia of the People. He averted his gaze to the floor beneath him, rubbing his hands together.

'_A utopia with a democratic government.. I always figured Utopia being freedom from powers, and yet.. I'm helping run this establishment. Yeah me. Dammit.. I'm everything I hate. Good thing I'm leaving.'_

"Cicero?" A familiar voice called from down the hall.

Cicero looked up and saw that the voice belonged to Sherrie, his and Goompas' secretary. She was holding a stack of papers in one arm, her head tilted to the side. She stared at him as he walked toward in her direction. He was getting uneasy from her constant gaze, because she finally looked down at the bundle of papers in her arms.

"There is a press conference meeting in about ten minutes or so, Cicero. You should probably get some sort of statement ready in case the President wants you to speak."

"What's the conference for?"

"Goompas refused to tell me. He just said that there was going to be a press conference today, said he had something important to tell the world. I thought you might know what he was going to announce."

Cicero's eyes suddenly shot wide open and he slipped past Sherrie and ran down the hallways to his office, Sherrie called his name out after him, but he just continued to run, all the way down the hall, taking a sharp left turn and then a right one, straight into his office.

Cicero breathed heavily, his back placed against the smooth surface of the wooden door to his office. He quickly regained his composure and made his way across the room, opening the slightly hidden side door into the President's chambers. He slid it closed behind him, making sure to latch it shut. He stepped over to the pile of folders just in front of Goompas' desk and began digging through it quickly. He winced a few times, feeling the edges of the folders splitting his hands open with bloodless wounds.

'_Folders are **NOT** paper! How do they give **paper** cuts!'_

Cicero grimaced as he finally extracted the folder from the pile. He winced as he held the folder in his right hand, silently inspecting his fingers and palms, shaking his head lightly. Small little gashes covered almost the entirety of his hands, the fingers were split in-between each other, and also along the knuckles.

'_Ow.. Despite this, I have to hurry to the conference room before Goompas.' _

Cicero slid the manilla folder underneath his suit, between it and his white dress shirt underneath. He got to his feet and made his way out of Goompas' office. He slipped past Sherrie's desk without her noticing and bolted down the hallway. He stopped in front of the door reading 'Conference Room A' just above the doorframe in glittering golden letters on a black plaque.

Andehshun paid little heed to Goompas' announcement. They had little to nothing to do with his project, so he didn't listen in. Malone and Stabler looked up only once, when the President had said their names, but they returned to work upon hearing that they were to be left alone. Andehshun stood at the right side of the table containing Paragon, while Malone and Stabler were at the end working efficiently on the Reploid's legs.

'_I made sure to give you an extensive amount of memory, Paragon. So you should have an almost limitless amount of armors at your fingertips.. Just hope you never have to use any of the more dangerous ones.'_

Andehshun tapped the gem set in the center of the helmet, the blue gem glittered brightly

for a brief moment before the glow faded, Paragon's visor sliding down over his half covered face. Andehshun produced a set of six microchips from his lab pocket, inserting one into a tiny slot on the visor's edge.

The chip had the design of a lightning bolt on the front of it. The visor began glowing as the chip was inserted, and data flashed across the visor, before fading away. The chip ejected automatically, and Andehshun quickly replaced it with the next chip, this one had a small fire emblazoned on it. The same thing occurred, as it did with the other four chips as Andehshun inserted them. The last chip finally ejected from the tiny slot, all six were replaced back within Andehshun's right lab pocket.

The welder whined to life, showering sparks all along the floor on the left side of the table. Malone was finishing the attachment of the left leg. As he finished, he passed the welder over to Stabler, who quickly touched it to the right leg, welding it together as well, sending showers over the right side of the table.

"Almost finished?"

Malone glanced over at Andehshun, nodding as Stabler clicked off the welder. The two of them pushed their safety glasses up on to the tops of their heads, setting the welder down on a side table, detaching the tube at the bottom that was supplying it with the gas. The two patted the legs that were now part of the body.

"It's finally done, Andehshun."

"Completely?"

"Of course."

"Finally.."

'_Satoshi.. Your greatest invention is coming to life again.. After he was destroyed in 22XX.. Four centuries later, he returns. I only wish you could see the improvements we've made to him.'_

Andehshun set his hands down on either side of Paragon's head at the front of the table. Malone and Stabler took a step away from the table, both on either side of it. Andehshun took a long glance at the completed frame of this new Reploid. He gave a curt nod to both Malone and Stabler, both nodded back.

"I want you two to begin the second project."

"Which is?"

"Another reploid."

Andehshun pulled a roll of blue paper from his pocket and handed it over to Stabler, who unrolled them. Malone quickly joined him, both staring at the blueprints with a careful eye. They nodded and Stabler rolled it back up, sticking it into his pocket.

"We'll get started right away, Andehshun."

"Thank you."

Malone and Stabler turn away from the table containing Paragon and step to the one closest to it. They began collecting materials needed for their new assignment. Andehshun watched them for a minute before sighing heavily.

'_A double dose of Grathnoc technology.. Hopefully those two can finish your brother quicker than it took us to finish you, Paragon.'_

Goompas and Raijouta make their way up the ramp to the elevator. They step inside of it and wait momentarily, the notches rotating down and steam erupted downward, the cool smoke filtering upward around them as the elevator took off, making its way back up the shaft.

"How do you think the public will respond to this, Raijouta?"

"Mass hysteria and panic, sir."

"You're so positive.."

"Your sarcasm isn't amusing."

"Neither is that retarded headgear."

Raijouta's eyes turned to slits as he repositioned the headset. He two earpieces laid flat over his ears, and a small microphone extended from the right earpiece, curving across his jaw and laying an inch out from his mouth. The sound of conversation was coming from the earpieces. Raijouta pulled a small remote from his pocket, holding it out to Goompas.

"You might need this, sir."

"What is it?" Raijouta sighed, "It's to teleport in the Reploids once the grid is finished."

"Ah. You keep it. That's probably what the headgear is for, so you know when to hit the button."

"Of course, sir."

Raijouta replaced the remote into his pocket as the elevator slowed to a halt, steam once again erupting from the notches. The two of them stepped from the elevator platform and slipped out through the door. The notches on the elevator rotated back around and slid back down the hallway, the steam rising up to the shaft ceiling.

Sherrie rubbed the back of right hand into her eyes, yawning loudly. She had been up as long as Goompas had, but unlike him, she hadn't taken a break. She was busy in Cicero's office, placing the massive pile in the center of his room into six piles. The piles were color-coded, which also meant, they were classified according to what section of the government they had to deal with.

'_Red for Security.. Blue for Naval Military.. Green for Non-Sea Military.. Black for Confidential things I don't know about.. Yellow for Foreign Affairs.. And Purple for personal.'_

Cicero stood calmly in front of the podium within the conference room. The cameras were flashing and he was waiting for a minute before starting. He slid the folder down through the bottom of his suit jacket and placed it lightly in front of him, just in front of the microphone. He flipped it open, the soft movement reverberating through the microphone to the press. They all watched on eager to hear what he had to say. He looked out through the crowd and wet his lips.

"Reploids.."

Sherrie took the six stacks from the floor of Cicero's room and placed them evenly upon his desk. She dusted her hands off and made her way to Goompas' room. She sighed as she saw that his pile was even bigger than Cicero's. She got down on her knees and began sorting through the large pile. After a few minutes, she had the stacks sorted, but there seemed to be some missing. She pushed the stacks up against the front of Goompas' desk and got to her feet, counting the last few ones remaining on his desk. She set her hand to her chin, glancing at his desk.

'_There's a folder missing..'_ Her eyes widened, "Cicero.."

"Activate Grathnoc Combat Unit, Zero-Zero-One. Paragon."

Andehshun voice was slow, but his enthusiasm was easily noticeable. He was activating a Reploid that had been build back in 21XX, and was more modified than his ancestor Satoshi had probably ever imagined. Paragon was more than a combat unit now, he was more like a 'one Reploid army.'

Paragon's systems slowly began to start, each one activating the next set, going down the line. Soon his sensory units activated and the visor over his eyes flashed a bright blue and then dulled down to black, heavily tinted. He worked his fingers slowly, pushing himself up to a sitting position. His breathing was normal, as was his vision, as well as his hearing. He swung his legs off of the table and set them down lightly upon the floor, the two metal clanks of metal on metal contact pulsating through his helmet into his ears. He nodded lightly, working his fingers slowly.

"Hello Paragon."

He turned his head toward the voice, and he saw someone that looked vaguely familiar. He shook his head a little bit, setting his hands on either side of his helmet, shaking it slowly. He couldn't place it, but there was something wrong. He didn't know what it was, but this wasn't right.

'_Where the hell am I.. Where's Dr. Grathnoc? And why does this person look so familiar.. I've never met him before in my life..'_

"I am Andehshun Grathnoc. A descendant to Satoshi."

'_Well, that explains a lot.'_

"Can you speak, Paragon?"

'_Of course I can speak.. Can't I?'_ "Hello.. Andehshun."

"Ah. The voice modulator is working well. This is good news. You're a success, but I want you to try something. Satoshi hadn't given you this function when he first designed you. This is a new aspect. Activate file ElecA.exe."

'_ElecA.exe? What the hell is he ta-.. Hey wait, there is such a file.'_

Paragon's body shimmered with a yellow glow, the existing armor around him morphing and melding. As the glow faded away, Paragon's form looked more like that of Wily's Robot Master, Elec Man. One of the Sinister Six. Andehshun stepped over to a large computer and typed upon the keyboard, soon a status sheet of the Sinister Six appeared up on the screen. Paragon stared at it for a moment and then looked to Andehshun.

"The Schematic Analyzer, which was designed by Satoshi, but was never finished, is capable of allowing you access to all ranges of battle armor. The one you are currently in was inspired by-"

"Elec Man."

"Exactly. And the other five files currently in your memory are of the rest of the Sinister Six. You can collect armors with your visor, but the target can't be mobile. Which means, you only have four ways of acquiring new armors."

"Only four?"

"Technically five. One, scanning schematics. The simplest way, of course. You can do it through just accessing the schematics manually, or downloading it into your visor through a chip, which is how I did it. The second way is through scanning the Reploid manually, but they can't be moving. This is where three of the ways come in. They can't be in motion."

"What do you mean?"

"They have to either be deactivated, dead, or recharging. And also, they have to be all there. If any piece of their armor is missing, then you won't be able to acquire armor from them."

"What's the fifth way then?"

"I said, technically. We don't know for sure if it works or not. But I believe, you are also able to scan a Reploid while they are not moving, but still active. We aren't for sure on this one."

'_Once again, I am a prototype..'_

Andehshun noted that Paragon didn't seem at all comfortable with this situation. He sighed lightly, walking over to stand in front of Paragon's silent form.

"I would like to see if all six of the armors are working efficiently. Can you please rotate between them?"

"If it's necessary."

"It is."

"Mm.."

Paragon took a step back and his form shimmered with a red glow, his body seeming to get slightly taller. Flames erupted from the top of his helmet and his hands morphed into twin busters. He stood before Andehshun, the light gleaming off the red chest plate.

"The more you undergo the process, the quicker the change will become. Soon you'll be able to change without even thinking about it."

"Continue?"

"Of course."

Paragon's Fire Armor shifted away, his body glowing in a light blue hue. As the glow faded, the red had been replaced with a soft blue. The flame that had sprouted from the top of his head had vanished was replaced with a metal hood. The rubber suit had changed from Fire Man's dark grey to a very light grey, almost white.

'_According to my systems, my attacks are almost ten times more powerful than that of the original Robot Masters.'_

He noticed that Andehshun was still staring at him, waiting for the next armor. He accessed the next armor file and waited. His body glowed a dark orange color and his form bulked up. The blue hood morphed into a simple Metool hat. His shoulders and gauntlets jutted out, their size increasing. A gem appeared on his chest, twinkling lightly as the glow faded.

'_Guts Armor.'_

"Magnificent, and the final one."

'_Bomb Armor.'_

Paragon activated the last file, his body glowing again in an orange hue, this one lighter than the Guts Armor glow. The Metool hat changed form and morphed into a small metal mohawk in the middle of his head. The bulky shoulders changed into smaller shoulder pads, attached to the chest plate. The gauntlets faded away entirely, his hands fitted with orange gloves. The glow faded away, Andehshun nodding in satisfaction.

"Excellent. The program works efficiently. I just hope you're able to get used to it."

'_Don't worry about that..'_

"Paragon, I would like for you to go over there with those five other Reploids and wait. They are going to be teleported up to a conference room in a few minutes, I would like for you to accompany them."

"Of course."

A white glow enveloped Paragon's body as he made his way toward the other five Reploids on the other side of the room. As he passed by Andehshun, the glow faded away and Paragon was back in his normal armor.

Goompas entered into the press conference room, staring silently at Cicero who was standing behind the podium with a folder open in front of him. He cringed as the press yelled out his name and began taking pictures of him. Raijouta pushed the door open made his way up on to the stand, standing to the side and behind of Cicero. Goompas followed and stood beside Raijouta, letting Cicero finish whatever he had been saying.

"I can't tell you exactly what the President is planning on doing, for I am not him. But I can tell you one thing. I do not agree with the things he has decided to do, and knew nothing of this entire operation until yesterday, whereupon I found this folder on the podium before me. Thank you."

The press went wild as Cicero closed the folder and slapped it against Goompas' chest, who took it. Goompas stepped toward the microphone as Cicero exited the conference room, slamming the door shut behind him.

"I have a question before you being, Mr. President."

"What is it?"

"Did you know that your Vice-President, Cicero, is planning on resigning?"

"News to me.." _'Dammit Cicero.. I need you in office with me.'_

"Alright."

"Okay.. You all know about the Reploid Program, I'm sure Cicero explained it in detail to you before my interruption. This is a necessity. The Global Utopia of the People **needs** this. You've all read the news broadcasts about the character 'Robert Sebastian' rumored to be creating Maverick Reploids. It's true."

"What!"

"But he's an esteemed scientist!"

"Yes, yes. All true. There have been attacks on New New York, although they are in remote areas, they are still attacks. No attacks have yet to have been reported here, but it is only a matter of time. We need something to be able to combat this. And through researching the past, we have come to understand that the only thing capable of destroying a Reploid is another Reploid. We have created a group called the 'Wandering Souls.' A group of five Reploids, all esteemed during their eras, that we believe will be able to combat this threat. Also, another esteemed scientist, Dr. Andehshun Grathnoc, has created a Reploid capable of being an army in itself."

"Amazing.."

"I said the same thing myse-"

"Sir, they're ready."

"Send them in right away, Raijouta."

The crowd stood silent as six beams of energy lit up the side of the room, each one landing and exploding harmlessly upward. Six forms appeared from the energy beams, standing silent as they appeared.

"Welcome the Wandering Souls. Dynamo, Forte, Storm Eagle, Flame Stag, and Slash Beast. As well as Paragon, the one Reploid army."

The crowed exploded into questions, all of which Goompas shunned away as he silenced the crowd by waving his hands back and forth quickly. Raijouta stood behind him, shaking his head a little, smiling to himself as the roar of the press was dulled by his headphones.

"People, people. I know you all have questions, but we don't have time for them. I have to get these six Reploids prepped for their debut appearance when the first Maverick attack is reported."

"One question, please Mr. President."

"Okay, just one."

"We all want to know.. Why did you pick ex-Mavericks for this unit?"

"They only went Maverick when Sigma was around. Their systems have been purged of all traces of the virus. Storm, Flame, and Slash are all free of Sigma's control. There will be no mess ups this time around."

"Thank you, sir."

"Raijouta, if you would."

"Of course." Raijouta tapped the remote once more, all six of the Reploids quickly zooming from the room as energy beams once more.

Goompas waved to the crowd and exited the room, with Raijouta following along behind him. He stood just outside the door, hearing the press inside the room asking each other questions, trying to figure out just what exactly is going on.

'_This should be one hell of a party I've got myself involved with.. But this party is going to suck.'_


	31. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30 - We Have The Technology**

32 stepped briskly around the two metal tables set about a foot and a half away from one another in the middle of the room, and crossed over to where both Franco and PX were standing. He set a hand on one of their shoulders and turned them toward the door, speaking in a rushed tone.

"Franco, PX, sorry to just throw you two out, but we need the space. Once Aasterinian is finished with X, I want you to come back in here, Franco, so that we can get you repaired, and back out to Alpha and your brother."

"Alright.."

He hustled them to the door, which opened automatically, a metallic 'whoosh' resonating from the doorframe. He inched them out the door and into the hallway, giving them both a quick nod, "PX, you're brother will be fine." He swung his head back through the doorway, the door sliding shut behind him with the same metallic 'whoosh' as when it opened. He crossed back over to the table containing the limp form of Bread Man, assessing the amount of damage done to him.

PX watched the door close and then turned away from the gray metal surface. He reached his right hand up to the side of his helmet, his visor flaring into a sharp hue of green before dying down to its original color. He was so busy activating his visor, he didn't even see Franco walk down the hallway. PX dropped his hand to his side, setting them on his hips, swinging his head back and forth slowly, scanning the data displaying on his visor.

_'There is something in this base that wants me to find it.. All I have to do is look..'_

Franco stepped quickly down the hall, away from the stationary form of PX. He quickly made his way down the halls that they had come through earlier, back in the direction of the entrance of the base, and the laboratory that belonged to 32, where all the computers were set up.

_'I need to check on Alpha.. He better still be alive, I'll be so pissed off if he's dead.. They were just Mets..'_

PX turned his head down the hall slightly, a distinct and familiar energy spike displaying across his sensors. He took a step in the direction of where the Hunters have been staying, his feet moving his slowly toward one of the rooms in particular, the spike growing rapidly as he gets closer to the room. He set his hand to the identification panel and the small machine gave out a weak 'ding' to confirm his identity. The door slip open and he stepped into the room slowly, turning his head toward the familiar being in the corner of the room, who looked upon him with a great sense of love and compassion.

"My son.."

"Father.."

Enzan finished gathering the random repair equipment from the massive side-table, wheeling the trolley table back over to Aasterinian and 32, stopping it in between the two tables. He clenched down the wheel locks, keeping the trolley from moving.

"Here's everything that you'll need, 32."

"Mm.. Alright."

Enzan stepped away from the trolley, watching 32 reach to the pile of instruments and grab a short handled pry-bar. 32 turned toward Bread Man's still form, slamming the bar down into his chest plate, prying it away from the carbon rubber suit beneath it. It broke off, flipping away, and slamming against the floor, clattering loudly.

Aasterinian stepped away from the wall and made her way over to where X had laid down. She smiled down at him and opened her mouth to say something, but she lightly tapped X's manual shut down. His eyes faded out and his mouth hung open a bit. She closed his mouth and slid his eyelids down over his blank eyes. She lifted her hands up and a small device on her right wrist sprang to life, a green light emitting from the end of the device. The light slowly formed into that of a giant hand, shaped exactly as her hand was.

"This shouldn't take long. It's all external. Nothing is too badly damaged."

Enzan gasped upon seeing the giant green hand, and Aasterinian turned and gave him a soft smirk, returning to her work. He turned toward X and 32, who slammed his hand into the pry-bar, sending the last chunk of chest plate to the ground, each piece had clattered loudly upon impact.

"Alright. Enzan, pass me the mini-saw."

"Okay."

He turned from his view of the table and toward the trolley, reaching toward the middle and grabbing a rather small saw, about the size of two fists set together, with a blade about the same size attached to one end. He lifted it slowly, inching around the trolley and setting it into 32's hand, which held it easily.

'_Wow, that was heavier than I thought it would be..'_

He returned to his position on the other side of the trolley and watched as 32 clicked on the mini-saw, the small device whirring to life. The blade, which was heavier than the actual machine holding it, ate through Bread Man's chest, ripping easily through the rubber suit and digging down into his artificial skin, revealing the mechanical structure underneath.

"32.."

"Don't worry, Enzan. I'm very steady, the core will not be damaged."

"A-Alright.."

Franco looked about the hallway as he walked, he hadn't had the chance to look around when he came in with Bread Man's body. He sighed heavily, thinking back to Alpha and the massive horde of Mettaurs.

'_I wonder how well he's holding up.. He's probably tearing through them like nothing, since he really is a rather strong Reploid.. It may not show, but you can tell..'_

A beeping sound came to Franco's ears as he walked. He stopped and turned his head, looking into the closest room, which was 32's laboratory, where Franco first saw him and Enzan. He walked into the room, looking at the screen up near the ceiling. This screen was larger than all the other screens.

"Hey, wow. A map."

He leaned in close over the keyboards in front of all the lower monitors and stared at the screen. There was a small dark green dot blinking to the south of where the base was located. He glanced down and typed something into the keyboard, watching a small set of data appear alongside the dot.

'_A deactivated Reploid.. Whose distress signal just started going off. Hmm. Might as well check it out, I doubt it'll be take too long. I should get back in time for that girl Reploid to fix me.'_

PX stood stalk still, staring across the room at the hologram of Dr. Light. He looked exactly the way he had during the 20XX, except a little heavier since the last time PX had laid eyes on him.

"You can come in here, you know."

"Why are you kept inside of this room?"

"I keep another of my creations company.."

"A brother of mine?"

"Yes, I doubt you remember him.. Alpha X."

PX blinked for a moment, his memory banks searching for any personal memory or tidbit of information he might have accumulated about his brother, but nothing personal came to him. What came to him was all the information that the Maverick Hunter had put inside of his profile. He read through it quickly, all within the time span of a few seconds. He shook his head lightly, looking at his father from behind the dark shades.

"Built to destroy his older brother, in case of infection."

"They put that in the profile?" _'How did he know..'_ "I know many things, Proto Man X."

PX turned his head away from Dr. Light at the sound of his full name. He closed his eyes and walked over to the pod, setting his hands lightly against the top part of the pod, leaning against the outer edge of the blue light illuminating the hologram.

"Why does Alpha X keep you locked away in his room?"

"I am here for his final upgrade."

"Final?" PX tilted his head a little, while Dr. Light only nodded, "He was built at his peak, he needed no armor upgrades to fight. That's what I made him for. But through the years of X advancing in combat and mentally, I began to fear Alpha X would not be capable of destroying him. So I began creating an upgrade capable of destroying X if he became a threat."

"And Alpha X will receive this upgrade when the time comes."

"Yes."

Franco nodded lightly and turned away from the computers. He walked out of the laboratory and turned left, going up the two sets of stairs and out into the front entrance of the base, which was half-destroyed earlier from a Maverick attack, as well as Anode's buster. He activated his dash thrusters and exited the base at a quick speed. He jerked his body sharply and moved around the left side of the base, moving southward. He deactivated his thrusters, going into a quick running pace, turning down a small side-street.

32 switched off the mini-saw, staring down at his work. He pursed his lips and blew once, sending all of the small pieces of metal from the long tear in Bread Man's chest, displaying his power core easily. 32 set the mini-saw on to the trolley without looking.

"Hand me the Archtype Plasma Injector Mk. II, Enzan."

"Gotc-.. Wait, what's that?"

32 turned his head away from Bread Man's body and gave Enzan a cold, hard stare through his shades. He grabbed what looked to be a long syringe like instrument from the trolley.

"That's what **this **is."

He turned his back on Enzan and leaned back over Bread Man's body. He slid the small cylinder end down through the cut, pushing the point against the power core's outer protective shell. He pressed the button, the entire device beginning to hum lightly. He reached under the table and pulled out a tube, connecting against the back of the syringe-like instrument, pressing the second button on it. A light green liquid pumping into through the tube and into the instrument, filtering down into the power core.

"This should only take a few minutes."

Aasterinian had successfully removed each piece of X's armor and was busily working on each piece. Her instruments were more advanced than 32's, and seemed to do more than one function, so she had less switching time. She had already fixed the shoulder and chest armor, and was efficiently working on the helmet.

X was still laying on the table, but was in only his golden carbon rubber suit. His eyes still shut and his dark blue hair mashed down against his scalp. The big green hand emitting from Aasterinian's wrist set the helmet down beside X's head, completely repaired. The hand then grabbed the pair of gauntlets and laid them right into her awaiting hands.

32 pressed the second button again, the liquid immediately halting and sliding back down into wherever it was coming from under the table. He detached the tube and put it back inside the table. He pushed the other button, the syringe stopped humming immediately. He leaned in close and carefully slid the syringe end from Bread Man's power core.

"Alright, now to fix the entrance. And to put his armor back on. Enzan."

"Uh huh?"

"Get to work on repairing his armor."

"Right on it."

"I can give you an upgrade as well, Proto Man X."

"..."

"I know that you hate getting help, but this is for your own good. This will activate your systems to be able to use the new Anti-Viral Armor incorporated to fit your systems. It will also give you access to use the Lencin Armor again, once it is repaired."

"Who will repair it?"

"Who else? I've always repaired my own work. X's armors are fully functional, he can use any of them as he pleases."

"..."

"I will also fix any other flaws in your design, if you'd like."

"Just make me able to use the armor.. Don't tinker with anything else, Father."

"Of course, my son."

PX moved his hands from the top part of the pod as Dr. Light's hologram vanished from sight. He hesitantly stepped into the large pod, closing his eyes as the blue light began to glow and shimmer brightly. It enveloped his entire body within its light. He began to twitch slightly, not comfortable with this whole set-up, when energy jerked through the pod, surging through his entire body. The light dimmed away and he stepped from the pod, a silent push coming from inside his mind.

"All is completed, my son."

Franco leapt over a row of bushes, landing in a crouch, right in front of a body. He reeled and fell over backward.

"Whoa!"

He landed inside one of the bushes, sighing heavily. His beam saber activated and ate through the leaves as he cut his way free of it. He climbed out and replaced his saber on his shoulder. He walked over to the body and crouched down in front of it, staring at the dead, empty eyes.

'_He's a Hunter.. I think. But he doesn't have the insignia most Hunters have. Ex-Hunter gone Merc? It happens.. Eh, might as well take him back.'_

Franco reached down and grabbed the Reploid by the hair, which was a light silverish color. He pulled the Reploid up to his feet, the dark green and gray armor contrasting horribly with Franco's blue armor. He threw the Reploid over his shoulder and made his way through the small path through the bushes, going back to the base the same way he had come.

"Hey wait.."

He set the body down in front of him, letting it stand on its own, like a statue. He tapped the side of his helmet once, a small green hue glittering across his eyes, before fading away. Data appeared over his vision, information scrolling down the right side of his vision. He read it like he would read a book and blinked.

"Mike Cain? One of the few Reploids that took on Cain's name, heh.. He must've been some kind of defect if he did that."

X's eyes shot open involuntarily, his vision slowly clearing. He shook his head as he sat up. His entire body was stiff, but he felt refreshed. He used to always shut down after a fight, not liking the thoughts that came to his head. He swung his legs from the table and glanced over at Aasterinian, who was standing off to the side in silence. The small device on her wrist was glittering green, but he had no idea why.

"Almost finished over there, 32?"

"You feeling any better, X?"

"I feel great. Thanks."

"Thank Aasterinian, she did all the repairs."

He glanced over at Aasterinian, whose face had suddenly flushed over with a soft hue of red. He got to his feet, walking over to her. He set his hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly.

"Thank you Aasterinian. I appreciate it greatly."

"You're very welcome.."

32 worked the last piece of Bread Man's armor into place. The wound had been fixed quicker than it had been made. Enzan had done an excellent job on fixing the armor and piecing it back together. He hit the power on the welder and connected all the pieces of armor together, melting the armor together, so that it was a tight fit. Enzan switched on the sander to see if it was working up to par. 32 pulled the welder away from the last piece melted together.

"Alright, sander."

"Here."

Enzan passed him the sander and 32 pushed it down against Bread Man's chest, feeling the chest plate contour as one against it. He switched it on and ran it over the armor, smoothing out where he had melted the pieces together. After a few minutes, the entire armor was once again smooth. He set the sander down and nodded to Enzan, who activated Bread Man's power core.

Bread Man slowly opened his eyes, letting out a loud groan. He lifted his head away from what seemed to be a flat surface and set his hands against the sides of his head. He lifted away the helmet and sighed, sitting up. He looked around the room, seeing two familiar faces and two unfamiliar ones.

"32.. X.."

"Welcome back, my friend."

"Welcome back, Bread Man."

Bread Man smiled at 32, and then at X, swinging his legs from the table. His balance was shaky, but he didn't accept 32's help. He walked around the table slowly, standing in front of the door. He was alive again.

"I've got to tell you.. That hurt like a **bitch**."


	32. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31 - An Act of War**

'_Will Sebastian really do it? I've known him for quite sometime.. He was never a person to fall into such temptation.. Something must be pushing him into this.. But what.. I don't know.. There's nothing that comes to mind. He has the fame, he has the money.. What else could he want? Companionship? Losing the feeling of loneliness due to the stress scientific ventures puts on a person? The only way to find out.. Is to make it through this.'_

The body of Quick lay still upon the table. Both Faern and Claude were at a lose on how to fix the Sebastian bot. Sebastian had taken an old design and put so much advancement into it, it was a wonder that it was damaged at all. Quick's chest armor had been completely removed, the power core was showing openly. It glowed sharply, sending brilliant rays of yellow around the room.

"Is there anything even wrong with him?" Claude asked, scratching the side of his head.

Burn stepped closer to the table and extinguished the flames upon his right hand, pointing out multiple anomalies in the core and also the random blast marks and dents across Quick's exterior.

"Hmm.." Faern nestled his chin into the palm of his hand, staring at the core for a moment, "Well.. Claude, get me the Archtype Plasma Injector. Burn is right about the core, we need to fix that up first."

"Alright, Faern."

Claude turned away from the opened-chested prototype, stepping over to a cabinet. He pulled it open and looked around inside of it for a moment. Faern watched Claude staring around, and was about to point out where it was, when Claude grabbed the long tube and pulled it away from the device attached to the floor of the cabinet. He brought it back over to Faern, handing it over.

"Sebastian has the newer version of this.." Faern shrugged a little, responding lightly, "I'm not rich."

Blues watched as Faern inserted the needle-like tip of the plasma injector into the core, extremely carefully. Claude activated it and the green liquid shot up through the tube and injected into the core. Claude returned to watch as the machine worked, having never been able to when working with Sebastian on anything.

"That's amazing.."

Blues smirked, reaching for a rubber mallet from the trolley and hefting it up easily. He moved down to the lower section of Quick's body, slamming the dull end against dents on the legs, pressing the bubbled dents outward. He rotated the mallet connections around the dents, forcing them outward while not creating any more dents in the process. He looked up as Burn came over and took the mallet from him, motioning Blues toward the door.

Blues leaned against the doorframe of the building, his left hand morphed into his buster. Burn had taken the mallet away from him and sent him over to keep watch.

'_Burn is right.. I need to keep watch. Someone has to do it anyways, might as well be me..'_

His eyes moved about the room, watching Faern, Claude, and Burn work methodically on Quick's still form on the steel table. His eyes then shifted across the room, to Mega Man, who was sitting in the corner.

'_You were always the fighter, Rock.. Why am I, out of the two of us, willing to fight? Was battling brother robots so hard back then that it's effecting you now..'_

Blues turned his eyes away from his brother, looking out through the door, his shades glinting as the rays of the sun splashed across his face. He set his right hand down upon the barrel of his buster, clasping it lightly.

Mega Man watched Blues turn away from him, looking about out the door. He set his hands over his eyes, sighing heavily. He closed his eyes, setting his hands down on either side of his body.

'_Blues is probably disgusted with me. Me.. The 20XX Hero.. Unwilling to help people in need later on in life. That's the thing, Blues.. My life was over, bringing me back doesn't change that. My time ended when I stopped functioning the **first** time.'_

He pushed himself to his feet and walked over to the doorway, slipping past the table and the three forms working on Quick. He stopped beside Blues, leaning against the other side of the doorframe, his eyes settling outside. He noticed Blues' head twist slightly, knowing he was looking at him through the corner of his eyes.

"Blues.. Are you disgusted with me?" Blues laughed shortly, "No, Rock."

"Why do you still call me that?" He looked over at his brother, who had returned to scanning outside, "Because, that's the name you were given."

"Then why don't you go by Proto Man?" Blues laughed again, this time longer, "That's not a name. It's a title."

"Do you really plan on fighting for this cause, Blues?" Blues looked over at Mega Man, staring him straight in the face, "If one of us has to be the bigger man, here, Rock. Yes, I will fight."

Mega Man didn't know what to say, or think. His mind ran circles around itself, trying to understand what exactly Blues was trying to get at. He looked away from his brother, sighing lightly, his left hand twitching slightly.

The two pods at the side of them room whirred to life, their protective barriers lifting, the two Reploids inside reactivating their systems, coming back online. Shift stepped down out of his pod, the sounds of a charging buster coming to his ears. Lizzy leapt down beside him, running over to the door. Shift finally opened his eyes, just in time to see Blues fire off a fully charged blast into the street, explosions quickly following it. Lizzy leapt through the doorway, her axe already activated.

'_What a thing to wake up to..'_

Shift ran after her, watching Mega Man slip out of the way from the doorframe and move into the middle of the building, out of the way of the fighting, as well as out of the way of the repairs taking place on Quick. Shift morphed his hands into his sabers as he leapt through the doorway as well.

"Shoryu, the first wave should be arriving as I tell you this."

"They won't last long, start the second wave, Elcazor."

"Of course."

Lizzy's axe worked double-time, both ends cleaving through the body parts of Repliforce Grenadiers and random versions of Joe's. She grit her teeth, feeling plasma splash across her back. Her left hand formed to a buster and fired behind her, the explosion knocking her forward slightly.

'_Closer than I thought, damn..'_

She grit her teeth, crossing her arms over her face. A ride armor slammed its fist straight into her arms, sending her flying back, her axe gripped tightly within her right hand. She slid to a stop and uncrossed her arms, dashing forward. She leapt upward at the last second, her axe ripping through the ride armor and the drone inside of it. It exploded as she landed behind it, her buster charging quickly, releasing a full shot straight into the crowd of humanoid Reploids, blowing a half dozen apart with that single shot.

"This is going to be a **LOVELY** freakin' day!"

"Didn't we put the ride armor units in the third wave?"

"It doesn't really matter, Elcazor."

"Why?"

"We're the only thing that will end up doing any sort of damage to them anyways."

"..."

"Just sit back and enjoy the fireworks."

Shift kept shifting what his left hand was doing. First it was holding a saber, cleaving through Joe's like they were butter. Then he switched it to a buster and was littering random Reploids with plasma holes. Then he switched it into a buzz saw, which is what it still currently was.

"I found something effective!"

Shift morphed his right hand into a buzz saw as well, running forward quickly, both blades rotating quickly, their blades ripping through Joe's and Repliforce drones like they were nothing, which they were. He leapt backward, a ride armor slamming down in front of him, its shield taking the full front of his buzz saws. Shift went flying when the ride armor slammed the shield into him. He hit a wall and splattered, reforming on the ground, his hands wielding sabers once more.

"You obviously don't know how much that stings!"

The ride armor activated its thrusters and went flying toward Shift, who leapt backward and kicked off the wall, landing on the drone's head, slamming both of his sabers downward, leaping forward away from the explosion that resulted. He absorbed a few scrap pieces from the ride armor that landed around him, recovering some lost material.

Blues' buster went off rapidly, each shot half-charged. He grit his teeth, noticing how the Mavericks were getting closer, no matter how hard he tried to keep them back. He grabbed his shield, twisted it around, and threw it out the door, watching it impale through four Joe's, ripping their torsos from their waists. The shield slammed into a building across the street, sticking in deep. Blues fired a fully charged shot, obliterating a full row of charging Joe's, their bodies breaking into multiple pieces from the power of the blast.

"I need a close range weapon.. My buster can't do this forever."

Sebastian stared up at the monitor of his computer, a video was playing. It was a video of the attack against Faern's lab, live coverage. He watched with keen interest, looking away only every few seconds, looking over the designs laid out on his computer screen.

"Ugh, distracting!"

He finally muted the video, putting his full attention on to the design with the schematics. So far, he had completed the torso, shoulders, and head of his Zero. He ran his finger over the red gem in the center of his forehead.

"Despite Zero being blue, do you think they will care? It's Zero. The hero of their era. They won't care what color he is, I could make him neon pink and they'd embrace him back into their ranks."

Sebastian stepped around the table containing Zero and walked over to a stack of metal, a very shiny metal. He reached down to grab a sheet of it, right as the phone rang from behind him. He groaned and righted himself, walking over to the phone. He snatched it from the hook.

"Hello?" His tone was annoyed and disgruntled.

"What a greeting, doctor." Sebastian's eyes widened slightly, "Ah, what a surprise."

"I have contacted you with the information you requested. The factory in Calamity is on schedule, and going very smoothly. But there have been energy jumps surrounding that location lately, nothing too significant. I will gladly send someone out there to investigate, if you wish it." Sebastian was silent for a moment, before scratching his chin, "Do nothing for now, but if the anomalies continue, investigate."

"Of course. And also, your Chinese cohorts are falling behind on their promises. Three of the eight factories have been shut down by the government, one is out of material. Which is impossible, since you supplied them with an abundance that should have lasted for at least three more years. And the other four are in pristine shape, on schedule."

"You should probably get someone into China and work on some negotiations. Forceful negotiations."

"Of course. And last, but not least, President Goompas, who is located in America, has confirmed this morning that the Global Utopia of the People have, proving rumors true, created a group of Reploids under the title of the 'Wandering Souls.' And a solitary unit capable of being an army in itself. And also, Vice-President Cicero is reported to have begun his resignation."

"I do believe that this should be investigated by you, personally. I don't trust your underlings."

"And you trust me, doctor? I'm flattered." Sebastian grit his teeth slightly, "Just do your job."

"Of course. I will speak to you again. Probably sooner, rather than later. Good bye." The phone clicked off before Sebastian could make a response.

Sebastian set the phone back down on the hook and walked back over to the table containing Zero. He pulled the sheet over the half-completed body and moved into a chair, un-muting the video of the attack on Faern's lab and settled in for a good fight.

'_If what he says is true, then two months will be too long. I will have to go back on it. They will get one month, if that, to get their forces together. If they cannot.. Then that is their problem. The Chinese are failing their part of the plan. I need my Sigma drones done, and I need them done soon. If the energy spikes in Calamity are correct, then Sigma might not be dead. I need to know..'_

Faern glanced to the side, watching the explosions erupt just outside the door, which was wide open. He twisted his gaze from the door, trying to shake away the feeling of fear coming over him, that something is going to get through the door. He finally looked up from his shaking hands, looking over at Burn.

"Burn.. Please go and help them fight. At least protect the door." Burn stared at Faern only for a moment, before nodding and heading over to the door, his fingers blazing to life with the strikingly bright green flames.

'_I was built for fighting. Though I am fighting those built by a man that could technically be called my father, I must still fight them. Harming those who are weaker may be the way of the tyrant, it will not be tolerated.'_

Burn's fingers erupted into larger flames, his hands aimed forward out into the roads. The flames suddenly flickered, going out for an instant, before reigniting, balls of fiery green erupting across the surface of Reploids running across the road, melting through their armor and into their circuitry.

'_I was built as a prototype. I am not even a Reploid. Why do I think of such things as I do? Was I built to be something more? I will ask Faern of these feelings later, after we have all survived through this battle.'_

Shift slid to the right, his right buzz saw swinging forward, leaving a large gaping wound across the umpteenth ride armor that he has encountered in the last ten minutes. He leaped upward, forming his left hand into his buster, firing a concentrated shot straight into the back of the drone's head, the entire armor exploding. He landed heavily, absorbing some of the debris. He watched Lizzy go flying past him, only to skid to a halt and dash back forward, her buster out and glowing intensely. The blast that erupted took out a large count of Mavericks, leaving smoldering legs and arms before them.

"Are you alright, Lizzy?" Shift strolled forward to stand beside her, both taking a moments rest while the Mavericks regrouped.

"I'm glad I took that quick recharge. That blast wouldn't have been half as powerful if I hadn't." Lizzy grinned wildly, the hum of her buster coming to his sensors, "Glad to hear it. Well.. Time to get back to work!"

Shift lurched forward rapidly, his body surging downward into a puddle. He erupted upward around a Joe, encompassing it and tearing it apart from the inside, absorbing it entirely. Shift watched Lizzy shoot past, her double-axe tearing through the armor of multiple ride armors, leaving explosions in her wake.

Claude took over where Burn had been working, his hands wielding the rubber mallet efficiently, quickly restoring the leg armor to its original shape and form. He returned the mallet to the trolley, stepping up beside Quick's head. Faern glanced over at him and nodded, carefully removing the injector from the core. Claude moved to the closet and switched the machine off, letting the soft hum dull down, leaving only the sounds of explosions come to their ears.

"Alright, Claude. All we have to do now is complete the reassembling of Quick's chest, internal and exterior, finish rebuilding the broken gauntlets, and fix his helmet. Shouldn't take too long. If we work quickly, we'll be finished before they are."

"Wonderful.." Claude glanced to his side, where Mega Man came to a stop, "I can help."

"Are you sure you're up to it, Mega Man?" Faern was skeptical, but Mega Man gave a reassuring smile, "I was Doctor Light's lab assistant before I was turned into a combat unit."

Mega Man stepped around Claude, who was snatching up a welder and something that resembled a pair of tweezers. Faern took a step back and moved around the two of them, walking over to the cabinet. Mega Man took the 'tweezers' from Claude and proceeded to reconnect wires with the electric charge that shot between the tips.

"Claude, can you help me with this?" Faern was holding up a chunk of metal molded into the shape of a chest, Claude quickly joined him, helping him carry it over to the second table.

"You and Claude can work on that, I'll finish this part." Faern nodded to Mega Man, who continued with the rewiring.

Blues dropped down to one knee, aiming his buster high. The fully charged blast pushed him back a bit across the ground, the plasma erupting across the surface of the D-1000 that came hovering across the street. He set his free hand to the side of his mouth, cupped slightly.

"Lizzy! Shift! We got... Uhm.. **Big things!**"

Lizzy drives her hand through the Joe's chest, pulling out a mass of wiring, her axe taking the Joe out the rest of the way. The two halves separate and explode, leaving Lizzy within a shroud of smoke. She turned toward Blues' voice, but quickly leaped backward when a claw slammed into the spot where she just was, the D-1000 retracting the claw and proceeding after her.

"Not you again.."

She leapt backward, barely catching hold of the front of the building behind her. She triangle-kicked hard, pushing upward quickly. She drove the axe down sharply, the first end ripping through the face of the giant Reploid, sparks shooting from the wound. The second blade pushing farther into the mechanism, ripping apart necessary components. She landed heavily, dashing forward, feeling the heat from the explosion on her back.

"And where are **YOU **going!" Lizzy slammed into something hard, at her neck. She went flying backward, slamming into the ground and skidding backward sharply, ripping into the asphalt.

Shoryu drew out his beam sabers, both igniting simultaneously at his sides, their green glow glinting off his armor, leaving jade shades upon his form. He strode forward slowly, watching Lizzy push herself to her feet, her beam axe returning to her hand after falling from her grasp. He listened to her cough, trying to restore her breath.

'_There will be no mistakes this time.. Death will come to you. Whether swiftly or torturously slow, is up to how I feel when it comes to it.'_

"**DIE HUNTER!**"

Shoryu launched forward quickly, the two sabers sweeping in at different angles. He watched Lizzy's axe catch one blade and side-step to avoid the other, slamming her foot straight up into his chest, knocking him back a bit.

Lizzy followed after him, swinging the axe for him quickly, both blades seeming to stream through him at the waist. She leapt backward swiftly, his foot slamming into where she had been standing. His blades came for her, but she leapt upward, swinging her axe vertically. She watched him duck beneath the first blade, dashing forward and rolling away from the second one.

"Come on, Hunter. Show me what you're really capable of!"

"Gladly!"

Lizzy's buster ignited the sky with a bright flash, the fully charged blast slamming into the ground all about Shoryu's form, launching him backward, sending him crashing into a building, the rafters collapsing inward, the entire building crumbling. She landed softly, going into a battle stance, her axe behind her.

Shoryu pushed aside the rubble, getting to his feet. He grabbed for the hilts to his sabers, only locating one. He activated it immediately, leaving his right hand free. From his wrist sprouted green energy, a saber splitting through the air in front of his right arm.

'_If she keeps it up, I won't win.. I have to get rid of that axe..'_

He crouched down and activated his foot thrusters, pushing forward rapidly. He swung his wrist blade forward quickly, which Lizzy easily caught, twisting the axe preemptively to catch the attack from the saber. But he jerked his wrist blade back and struck forward again, catching Lizzy by surprise. The force of his thrusters, as well as his attack, sending Lizzy slamming into a wall, Shoryu locked against her, both of them crashing through the thick concrete. Shoryu stumbled over the rubble, rolling across the floor and two his feet. The sizzling of fluids coming from the end of his wrist blade.

"Seems to me like you're injured," He sneered at his female opponent, who laughed lightly. "What's so funny, Hunter!"

"That was idiotic of you."

Lizzy gazed through the smoke, the wound in her chest already closed over. He had left the blade inside too long, it had cut, but it had also burned the metal closed, locking in the fluids, she wouldn't be effected by the injury as much as she could have been. She caught his movement, watching him run forward, but she reacted swiftly, dodging to the right and then skidding and back to the left. She deactivated her axe and used it like a pole, tripping up his feet. She twisted it back and slammed it rapidly into his chest multiple times, before he finally caught in on his wrist, yanking it from her hold.

'_**Shit!**'_

Her buster activated immediately and she leapt backward away from him, vanishing into the rising dust, the only noise heard from her was the soft hum of her charging buster.

He held his hand tightly over his chest, where the baton had shattered the plating of his armor in multiple places. He grit his teeth, his breathing sharp. He deactivated his wrist blade, tossing the saber to his right hand, spinning it a bit.

'_One more attack.. If it doesn't destroy her, get out of here, Shoryu.. She's not worth dying for, and neither is Sebastian. This is pointless, we have **yet** to win a battle.. Now.'_

He threw his weight forward quickly, running forward, his feet slamming down hard against the concrete footing, shattering it with each step. He leapt upward a few steps through the shroud and swung his saber forward, the sound of humming showing him where to strike. He lurched backward quickly, his saber meeting nothing. The blast ripped through his gut and threw him backward, sending him slamming down into the ground, ripping through the concrete, fluids erupting upward from his mouth.

'_Ow..'_

Lizzy watched as the blast sent her attacker flying away from her. She relaxed visibly, smiling to herself. She morphed her buster back into her hand and slipped out through the hole that they had created earlier, minutes earlier.

'_Or was it seconds?'_

She hurried back to where, she hoped, both Shift and Blues would be waiting for her safe return from her one-on-one battle with the Maverick that had took her down too easily the first time.

Elcazor leapt from the D-1000 as Shoryu did, landing meters away from him. He would let his companion have his fun with the girl. Elcazor's rapier was already lit and weaving patterns through the smoke filled air, reflecting back plasma shots from the doorway of the laboratory they were sent to attack.

"Oh come now, I won't hurt you. You can show your face."

He watched as a red Reploid stepped from the shadows of the doorway. He repulsed visibly at the sight of a Reploid in red armor, gritting his teeth angrily.

'_Red armor.. Shades.. Buster.. Shield.. It's like a damn copy. Am I being **punished** for something!'_

Blues' buster glittered as it completed its charge in silence, unlike other busters that hummed to full power, his was silent. He lifted up his shield, which he had retrieved earlier, when Burn had come to help them fight. He watched the rapier silently, aiming with his buster at the beret-wearing Reploid, watching him repulse at his sight.

"What's wrong, Maverick? Have you seen a ghost?" The Maverick growled dangerously, "I've seen far too many in these few days of my existence. You are not the first."

"Then let me see yours!"

Blues' buster activated, the blast tearing across the asphalt, ripping a crack through the ground as it sped for Elcazor's form.

Elcazor swung his rapier hard, its thin blade inserting into the side of the blast, but didn't cut through it, to his surprise. He slid back along the ground, before shoving himself to the side, the blast exploding against the side of the building. The blast had impacted with his armor, burning through it slightly, but he was amazed that the blast had not exploded upon contact. He went for the red Reploid, his rapier shrieking as it tore through the air, making contact sharply with a shield, sparks littering the ground beneath their feet.

"Heh, your shield holds up well. The last time I dealt with one, I cut it to pieces." The red Reploid laughed, "Don't underestimate me!"

Blues shoved hard, pushing the Maverick and his rapier a few feet back, changing the mode of buster mentally, shots rapidly escaping the end of his buster, going for the Maverick's body. He watched, gritting his teeth a little harder as each shot was swept aside with the purple blade.

"And don't underestimate me, relic." Blues blinked at this comment, before shaking his head.

Shift spread out across the ground slowly, wincing internally slightly with each step upon his form. As he neared full expansion and shot upward, pulling himself into a tight ball, every Reploid on the road becoming trapped within his form. He formed swords with his form and shot them through the close knit ball of Reploids, absorbing the debris as each Reploid exploded. He sank down into a puddle on the street, no trace of Maverick left aside from the two attacking Mavericks battling Blues and Lizzy.

'_No point to reforming.. Blues will handle the one with the beret, and Lizzy will handle the one with the horn. I'm perfectly fine as a puddle.'_

Burn stood in the doorway, watching Blues and the rapier-wielding Maverick battle in the middle of the room. Burn's green eyes flared with each attack that Blues took, while inflicting a few upon the Maverick, seemed to do little to no effect. He launched his body forward quickly, his fist connecting sharply, over Blue's head, with the chest of the Maverick, sending his slim body flailing wildly through the air, watching him slam into a building across the road.

"Thanks, Burn.." Blues had hesitated with his gratitude.

Elcazor angrily tore through the rubble of the building, throwing pieces aside. A long cut ran from his ankle to his knee, fluid trickling through his armor. He whipped his rapier out in front of him, his eyes gleaming dangerously.

'_Stupid prototype, you have injured the Great Elcazor. You will feel pain this day.'_

He shot forward quickly, his legs pumping faster than he could have dashed. He slammed his shoulder straight into the prototype's chest, sending him sprawling backward and through the doorway, taking part of it out, slamming it down on top of him. He swung the rapier for the red Reploid, who ducked and flipped backward, landing in the doorway, his shield raised. He drove the rapier forward, aiming to rip the shield apart.

Faern looked up from the metal on the table as Burn came thundering down through the door, ripping the top of the doorway down with him, covering him with plaster and concrete. Faern pulled the pistol from his pocket, setting it down at the table in front of him. Claude stared at him for a moment, but Faern shook his head.

"Just in case." Claude nodded and the two returned to shaping the chest armor to fit Quick's form.

Blues slid back into the room, almost tripping over Burn's downed form, which wasn't moving. There were multiple holes in his shield, where the rapier had penetrated and melted through the metal. He fired a half-charged shot past the shield, the blast splashing over Elcazor's armor, recoiling him backward, but to Blues' fear, he continued on, the rapier ripping gashes into the shield.

'_Dammit! My shield is useless! I can't take much more of th-.. What the **hell!**'_

Elcazor stumbled backward, a fist-sized hole in his mid-section, fluids trickling from it. He glanced over to where the shot came from, his eyes blazing with a fire of such hatred that he mentally feared he might melt his circuits.

"**YOU DIE HUMAN!**"

Faern gripped the gun tightly within his right hand, smoke still billowing from the tip of the barrel. He prepared to fire again, as the Maverick slammed his right hand against Blues' shield, slamming it against the Reploid and kicking him to the ground, across the room, where he didn't get up.

"Faern..What should we do?" _'I don't have any idea, Claude.. I really don't.'_ Faern made no response to Claude's question, only held the gun firmly, aimed at the Maverick.

"Step back, Maverick!"

Mega Man leapt forward, his fist slamming into Elcazor's jaw, sending him down to one knee, the connection sending fluid splattering across the floor at both of their feet.

"Reploids aren't meant to hurt humans!"

"You don't know anything, do you, relic?" Elcazor stared up at the blue Reploid, a robot of old, reborn, "Why do you even bother fighting?"

"If my enemies are weaker than me, why should I fight? If my enemies are stronger than me, why should I fight? If my enemies are as strong as I am, then they will realize how pointless fighting would be. But.."

"But what?" Elcazor glared at the small Reploid.

"But if my enemy is you.. Then I guess you won't be giving my any other choice!"

Mega Man's buster erupted loudly, sending Elcazor sprawling backward across the ground, out of the laboratory and back into the road. He leapt after the Maverick, his buster already charging, much quicker than Blues' had.

"I fought to protect others!"

The buster left off another deafening roar, the blast missing Elcazor by inches as he got to his feet and dashed out of the way. Mega Man landed and aimed at the Maverick, a fire of compassion filling his gaze.

"I was built to help people.. You were built to destroy. We will cross paths many times, unless I end you now."

"Then end my existence. Kill me."

Mega Man's arm faltered, the blast ripping through Elcazor's left shoulder, ripping it straight from its join, fluid trickling from the wound, a scream of pure pain leaping forth from Elcazor's lips. He gripped at his shoulder, trying to stop the fluids from seeping through.

"Ugh.. Dammit.."

Elcazor turned and fled, leaving Mega Man to stand alone in the middle of the road, tears threatening to spill down his cheeks. He had done what he said he wouldn't do anymore, but he couldn't stand by and watch people be hurt.

'_I don't understand what to do anymore..'_

Shift watched Elcazor flee the street, sliding over to the doorway, leaving Mega Man alone in the road to be with his thoughts. He reformed just inside of the doorway, to the surprise of both Faern and Claude. Shift just stood there, and then spread his arms wide.

"Looks like we're all alive and well."

"It's silver pudding!" Shift stared silently at Claude, he was grinning widely, "Right.."

Lizzy returned to the laboratory, seeing that the road was clear, she stepped into the laboratory. Burn was standing close to the table containing his fellow prototype, who was close to being finished. Shift leaned against the wall right across from the door, he nodded to her, which she returned. She looked over to where Mega Man was leaning against the corner, Blues standing nearby, they were whispering something she couldn't catch.

"Since all seems well here.. I'm going to head back to headquarters. Shift, keep in touch, we need to keep everyone alive from now on." Shift nodded as Lizzy left the building.

"Okay, Claude, careful."

Claude placed the armor covering softly down on top of Quick's open chest. It fit perfectly. Burn stepped over and lifted his middle finger and let the flame weld the metal together, quicker than the welder would have done, and the connection didn't need to be welded, which amazed Faern and Claude.

"He's finished, Burn. As good as new."

"But does he work, Doctor Faern?"

"Only one way to find out.."

Faern reached down and pressed the tiny button just below the back of the collar to the armor. As he released the button, Quick's body jerked, his eyes flicking open. He sat up and stared over at Burn.

"Is that what it feels like to be dead, brother Burn? I don't like that feeling. It was cold, and wet. I feel like I need a towel."


	33. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32 - Guardians of the Nightmare**

Sigma's face twisted repulsively as a grin spread across his lips, his eyes sunken within their place, the shine gone from his vision. The gem in his forehead festering slightly with rust. He didn't know that, even though he was a Reploid, death did things to his form that made him uglier. But then again, this was Sigma, he didn't care. His half-sunken eyes watched as the four pods across the room slowly reached their apex and finished breaking through the ground, having fully come to the surface.

"Awaken my guardians.."

Each pod opened in turn, starting from the left most pod and moving all the way to the right. Steam streamed out of each pod as the paneling slid away, the room was almost completely filled by the time the last pod had completed its activation. Four pairs of eyes glared to life in the smokey room.

Sigma watched as a dark red Reploid stepped from the first pod, his eyes shimmering a dark silver color, before dulling back to normal. His armor was studded with small silver spikes on the knees and shoulders, and his helmet was adorned with three spikes, one along the center and the two down across the sides. The center of his chest, and his gauntlets, were also adorned with silver circles. The carbon suit underneath his dark red armor was the same silver color as his spikes.

At the second pod, a slightly smaller Reploid stepped down, his body thick with armor, the helmet swept back with fin–like spikes, two on either side, with a bright blue gem set into the forehead of the helmet. The armor was black, a deep black, with a carbon suit of dark grey. The chest held the same color of gem as the helmet did, only this one on a larger scale. The red glare of the eyes dulled down into the normal dark red.

The third Reploid stepped down from his pod, much taller than the two that came before him. His helmet was topped with a silver, metallic mohawk. His red armor was lined with golden armor on the chest, ankles, and edges of the shoulders, as well as around the top of his eyes on the helmet. His knees were adorned with golden spikes, with a black carbon suit covering his body. The bright blue gleam filtered out of his eyes, leaving them at a soft blue, contrasting well with the red mask covering the rest of his face.

The final Reploid finally came down from his pedestal. He was about as tall as the Reploid before him, his eyes covered with a light green visor, which was gleaming sharply through the smoke. Most of his armor was a soft silver color, with golden armor lining his shoulder pads, chest gem, and helmet gem. Red armor also lined parts of his helmet and chest, as well as his ankles and the base of his feet. His knees were adorned with green spikes, the same color of armor circling his wrists. The carbon suit underneath the suit was a dark red color, the same as the red upon his armor. The sharp green glint from the visor faded away as he turned his head toward the other three Reploids.

"Sphere.. Ravage.. Cenarius.. Flamecircle.."

Sigma's voice was clear above them, all four turning their head toward his face, which blurred a little as a ripple of interference cracked through Sigma's face, splitting it into two pieces just above his mouth. It quickly reformed, his face becoming whole once more.

"You four are my newest X-Hunters. You will do as I say, and destroy any who oppose the rule of Sigma. I know that a few of you have more than one mission in your heads, but you will proceed with **my** objectives first. Upon completing them, you will be able to do as you please until you are needed once more."

Sphere, the first Reploid free from his pod, stared up at Sigma's face, his mouth covered with a dark red face mask. Underneath the mask, his face was tight with anger, his eyes slit downward, his lips tight together. It took all of his effort not to yell at his master, after a few seconds of silence following Sigma's voice, he finally got himself under control.

"Sigma.. You are not in control of me, nor any of us. We came to you willingly, freely. Our wills are **NOT** yours to control. If we don't want to do something, we will **NOT** do it! Do you understand me?"

Sphere's body shook slightly, as electricity ripped through the air from the pod, pulling him into its stream. He yelled out in pain, his body convulses from the high amount of watts pulsating through his form. The electricity finally died out and he dropped to his knees, breathing heavily. He gasped airily, tilting his head up toward Sigma, raising his hand in surrender for now.

"Sphere.. You will do as I say until my-our.. Mission is complete. Once we have established a place of order, you are all free to do as you wish."

The third Reploid, the one with the mohawk, stepped down away from his pod and strode forward a few steps, his eyes locking on to Sigma's. He shook his head as the face mask slid away from his face. His mouth was twisted into a smirk.

"I'm ready to do what you wish, Sigma. You already know our missions cross paths."

"Ah, Cenarius. Such a faithful guardian. Yes, you will get your chance to destroy Cronos, as your former master wanted you to. And the Hunters will fall beneath both of your hands. They will stand no chance with your assistance."

"Of course, Lord Sigma."

"Anything from you, Ravage?"

The shorter Reploid, with the dark black armor, said nothing. He only tilted his head back, locked his gaze upon Sigma's. He shook his head slightly, the fins sweeping through the air with a light whistling noise.

"And you, Flamecircle?"

The final Reploid, the fourth in line and last to come out of his pod, did the same as Ravage, said nothing and shook his head. His eyes covered by the thick green of the visor, not even Sigma could peer through the dense color.

"Wonderful. Then are all ready to receive your objectives..."

Some of the smoke had filtered out of the room through the ventilation system hooked up in each corner of the room. Off in the shadows of the room, a figure began to appear, slowly at first, the form slowly appearing out of a waterfall of random colors from his form. The Reploid had teleported in, in the air, and landed softly in a crouch. He got to his feet, his head covered with a spiked helmet, both spikes swept backward, almost horizontally with the top of his helmet. His armor was tinted a dark purple, a scarf whipped lightly behind him, wrapped tightly about his neck. He turned his gaze to his side.

Right beside him, another form began to appear, this one appearing almost the same way, appearing to un-dissolve out of thin air. As his body completely formed from the un-dissolving effect, a dark aura wrapped around his vague form, before it erupted outward, his body appearing clearly, only his hands still covered in the dark aura. About his shoulders was a dark brown cape, covering all of his body aside from his head, which was covered in shadow. The aura around his hands quickly faded away, the purple Reploid returning his gaze to Sigma, the one in the cape looking in the same direction.

The two figures waited in silence as Sigma announced to each Reploid in turn what their objective would be for their first missions for a few hundred years.

Azazel twisted his body to the side as Trigger leaped from the top of the stairs, slamming down on top of a just finished Model One Joe, crushing it beneath his weight. The explosion sent Trigger flying forward, and out the doors of the factor. Azazel turned and walked back into the office, staring at Calamity for a moment.

"Azazel, just don't ask."

"Alright, Calamity. I'll be back at a later time. We still have many things to discuss."

"I await your arrival each time you return."

"Mm.." He turned to head out the door, when Calamity slammed his hand into the table that had contained Trigger, "Where are you going, Azazel?"

"Somewhere that will take me days to travel on foot."

"I can teleport you there." This aroused Azazel's interest, "And how exactly would you be able to pull that off?"

"Sigma's teleportation grid. It's attached to this factory. How do you think I get them to my supplier so quickly?" Azazel shook his head, "I hadn't thought about it."

"I'll activate it so that you can travel with the grid. But don't travel at great distances, it **is** three hundreds years old. I usually have them dropped at three stops on the way to New New York."

"I shall be cautious." Calamity nodded, "Good luck."

Calamity had finished typing Azazel's code into the grid's systems. He nodded once at Azazel, who spoke his coordinates out loud, "SP9-741." Calamity lifted his head to watch as Azazel's body slowly disintegrated away into nothingness, vanishing from the room. He tapped the computer's scanning of the grid's satellite, smiling slightly as it indicated four rapid teleportations, one right after the other.

'_Trigger has run off.. Azazel is finally gone.. And I still don't know what I'm doing here. Working against the group of people I had fully trusted in the past.. Three hundred years of surviving alone in this factory, spending the last twenty creating Mavericks for a scientist half-way across the planet.. My past is crumbling before my eyes.'_

He sat down in the chair behind the desk, pulling himself up to the keyboard. He tapped quickly on the keys, sending it on a sporadic course through the files on the computer, random information popping up on the screen. He stopped it on one random file, his eyes widening slightly.

"My schematics? Why would Sigma.." He gasped loudly, typing in four letters _'G-A-T-E.'_

Multiple files began to open and appear upon the screen, Gate's schematics, all of his logs and diaries, even the schematics for his battle form based on Zero's design, and finally, Zero's design itself.

"Gate was working with Sigma.. It was all planned, Gate was being controlled by Sigma during the Nightmare Wars.. Why didn't we see it, X, why didn't we figure it out.."

He set his hands to his temple, shaking his head, his teeth grit together. His hands shook as he let go of his temples, his hands slamming down into the desk as he got to his feet.

"**Why the hell didn't we figure it out, X!**"

He sighed heavily, his body shaking with anger. After a few minutes, his body stopped shaking and he sat down heavily in the chair, letting his body sink into the chair's cushion. He typed randomly on the keys, watching as four letters appeared on the screen, _'W-I-L-Y.'_ He watched as files began to pop up, causing him to stare at the screen confused for a moment.

"What the hell.. What's _Wily_?"

The computer screen faded slightly, a bright 'W' flashing on to the center of the screen. At the same moment, the gem in his helmet began to gleam as well, a bright, white 'W' pulsating through the light blue of the gem. His eyes brightened, shuddering within his head for a moment before re-centering, dull and lifeless orbs staring at the computer screen. His voice was monotonous as he spoke.

"I will resurrect my brothers.."

'_Interesting.. Someone has activated my teleportation grid. But it was after Satsujinhan and Altor arrived. They must have their own grid. I'm not surprised, seeing as it's Altor.'_

"The teleportation grid is now online, you four know where you're going and what you have to do. Get out of my sight before I fry all of you for disobedience."

All four of the Reploids nod swiftly. The grid's satellite began to tilt as the four of them turned into an energy beam. Two red energy beams shoot out through the ceiling of the building, followed by a black one, and a green one. All four of them slammed into the satellite's front, aimed in the direction of their destination, the capital of the World Nations in North America.

"Satsujinhan. It's about time you arrived."

"My apologies.."

"Spare me, you insolent.."

"I dare you to complete that sentence, Sigma." Sigma scowled, "Happy to see you too, Altor."

"Hmph."

Altor stepped from the shadows, his body materializing in the dim light. He turned his head toward, Sigma's computer screen, his eyes locking on to Sigma's own sunken pair. Satsujinhan stepped across their gaze, standing at Altor's side, his purple eyes staring down at the floor, his purple scarf fluttering along behind him.

"Sigma, give Satsujinhan his mission." Satsujinhan lifted his head, staring at Sigma.

"Of course, Altor. Satsujinhan, you are to find X and Zero, and remove them from existence. I want you to destroy the **REAL** X and Zero. I know there will be copies of them around, due to the events in New New York as well as Washington D.C., but you must locate the real pair and destroy them both. And if you happen to find Axl, tear him apart."

"Of course, Lord Sigma." Satsujinhan's body disintegrated before them, vanishing from sight.

Altor looked at Sigma silently, who returned his gaze. Sigma's body would have been twitching involuntarily if he had one, for Altor had a gaze that felt like it was piercing into your soul.

"Sigma, I hope you realize that my resources will not always be open to you."

"I know this, Altor. Which is why I'm trying to create my own."

"You fail to grasp what I'm telling you, Sigma.. You won't succeed. The Sigma Wars ended in 23XX, they will not be continuing onward after three centuries. You're finished. Let someone who knows what they are doing take control."

"Get out of my sight, Altor. I don't need your insolence in my chamber."

"As you wish, Sigma."

Altor's body glowed with a dark aura before splitting at his waist and disintegrating into the air, vanishing from sight just as Satsujinhan had. Sigma sighed heavily, his eyes closing within the computer.

'_This is getting rather complicated.'_

A storm raged outside as a single figure strode forward, his body soaked with rain. His armor had multiple cracks lining his body. He reached his hand up and covered his eyes, eyeing the factory with his dark purple eyes. He nodded lightly, a dark grin splitting his lips.

"X1 has arrived where everything will come together.."


	34. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33 - The Gathering**

Anode launched himself backwards, his saber poised tightly within his right hand. He swung it forward, catching the plasma blast sent at it and the electric energy emitting from his saber deflected it, sending it rocketing back at the Joe that fired it. He dug his feet down into the asphalt, tearing through the surface, sliding backward. He came to a stop after a few feet, immediately falling into his battle stance, his buster charging.

'_Amazing how many Reploids can be beat in such a short time. Maybe it hasn't been that short.. Did we just miss it until the final moment? There could be so many more out there, and we're only taking on the bear minimum.. I have to talk to 32 and Bread Man.'_

AX leapt forward, his arms peaked atop his head, saber angled down behind him. He dropped like a rock, his arms swinging as one, the saber licking the edge of the Ride Armor's torso, but only for a moment. The blade tore through, ripping the body open from the neck rim to the waist. AX twisted his body slightly, ramming his shoulder straight into the damaged chest armor, his left arm morphing into a buster. He sunk it into the armor, grinning slightly as he fired, the blast ricocheting around inside the armor itself, destroying the Reploid controlling it. He threw himself backward quickly, kicking across the ground, coming to a stop beside Anode. The explosion threw dust up around the area, creating a cloud across the street.

"I think that was the last one, Anode.. Did you see any others before it exploded?" AX tried to keep his breathing slow, despite how tired he really was.

"I won't lie to you. I really have no idea."

"Wonderful."

Mr. Death breathed heavily, his left hand gripping the barrel of his buster tightly, his eyes skimming along the ground quickly, never staying on a single spot for more than few seconds. He aimed his buster, and fired, the blast splashed across the surface of something. He leapt from the building roof, charging his buster as he came down. He slammed heavily into the ground, sweeping his buster upward, taking aim, and firing. The explosion sent shrapnel flying past either side of him. He pushed himself to his feet, returning his right hand to gauntlet mode, the buster vanishing.

"That was the last one." He spoke to the other two, while using his scanners to scan through the smoke.

"Finally.." Anode spoke airily.

"Are you two hurt?" Mr. Death knew how badly someone could get hurt by taking the enemy straight on, his brother **was** a melee fighter.

"I'm okay." Anode turned and walked back to where the two roads met and crossed his arms, staring down the road they had come down earlier.

"Minor damage. I'm fine. How about you, Mr. Death?" AX stepped over to him, setting his hand on his shoulder.

"Nothing too bad, well.. Nothing that can't be fixed." Mr. Death smirked, laughing a little. AX grinning down at him.

"Well, alright then. We should head back now, hopefully the whole team will be there when we get back." AX turned and headed off toward Anode.

'_I doubt he's forgiven me for what I did to his friend.. But he can't let his emotions effect the way he leads. He's a good leader. Once the Maverick Hunters are fully restored, I won't be surprised if X and Zero decide to put him in charge of a unit. Anode too..'_

Mr. Death closed his eyes, sighing slightly. He shook his head and followed after them, having to run a little to catch up to them. They turned down the road and headed down the way they had come, all three of them silent.

Alpha whistled a playful tune, laying flat on his side. Underneath him were the Mettaurs from earlier, the group not as large as it had been before he attacked them. Their tiny little legs were all moving simultaneously, carrying Alpha atop their hats. He continued to whistle, a few of the ones not burdened with carrying Alpha's form began to pop in and out of their hats in rhythm to the playful tune.

'_As uncomfortable as this is.. Mettaurs are awesome transportation. Slow, steady, and I don't have to do anything to make sure they go the right way. Ah. This is the life of the lazy, perfect for me.'_

He grinned widely, reaching his right hand up and wiping coolant from his jaw. His torso was heavily damaged, the armor cracked in multiple places, the rubber suit even torn beneath it, coolant leaking through the wounds. His legs were also heavily damaged, which is why the Mettaurs were carrying him down the street. He laughed lightly.

"Who knew that Mettaurs could be tamed into harmlessness by whistling?" He asked to no one.

He relaxed again, whistling a little louder now. He cocked his head to the side, the whistle dying slightly. He heard foot steps. They were coming from down the road a ways, and off to the left. He craned his neck a little to be ready, in case they were Mavericks. His body tensing up, gripping his beam saber tightly in his right hand. He watched as three figures rounded the corner, heading straight toward him.

Alpha relaxed visibly, his entire body going slack. He placed the beam saber back into its holster on his back. AX, Mr. Death, and Anode had just rounded the corner and were now standing in front of Alpha's small horde of Mettaurs. AX tilted his head to the side, staring over at Alpha.

"And just what is going on over here?"

"Alpha made friends for once," Anode grinned slyly.

"Haha, you're just a riot, Anode. You should do stand-up at the local 'Har-Har You Suck Comedy Bar,'" Alpha retaliated, whistling a slow tune, causing the Mettaurs to all come to a stop.

Alpha slipped forward across the slick surfaces of the Mettaurs, setting his feet down and pushing himself to his feet. He winced painfully, rubbing his hands into his knees. AX stepped forward and helped Alpha right himself, who leaned into his shoulder. Mr. Death looked down the road, away from Alpha, who looked in his direction, his face expressionless.

'_Still.. I can't.. Hmm.. Franco got Bread Man back to 32, I'm positive of that. 32 **must** have fixed him. I'll be nice about it, until I'm sure of it. Maybe 32 will tell us the good news soon..'_

"How are you Mr. Death?" His question shocked the other Reploid, he could tell from the unnatural twitch.

"I'm.. Fine, Alpha. You don't seem so good yourself though, need some help?" Mr. Death waited a moment, Alpha only smiled, "You're the shortest one of the three, closer to my height. You'd be the best choice."

Mr. Death stepped over to him and Alpha lopped his left arm around his neck, limping forward sharply. Anode turned and walked ahead of the two of them, keeping his stride slow so that he never gets that far ahead of them. AX brought up the back, his arms crossed over his chest.

"What about the Mettaurs, Alpha?" AX twisted his head and looked toward the motionless bunch of yellow hats.

"Oh right.." Alpha moved his right hand to his lips and let out a shrill whistle, following it up with a quick tune behind it. The Mettaurs began to pop up and down, beeping loudly. Alpha smirked, "For the horde, eh?"

The Mettaurs all popped up and turned around, walking back the other way, AX followed their gaze, blinking for a moment, then smirked a little, glancing over at Alpha, who glanced at him.

"Sending them to Faern.. But how did you get the coordinates?" AX perked a brow at his friend, Alpha only grinned, "You seem to think that myself and Bread Man were only out here to find other Hunters. We rounded up enough information to find out about Sebastian and Faern."

"Then why didn't 32 tell the rest of us about it?" Alpha shook his head, "Because Bread Man decided not to tell him."

AX's jaw slackened and fell open slightly, but he quickly recovered his composure, running to catch back up with the other three. They turned a few corners, hearing explosions getting closer with every step. Anode morphed his right hand into a buster, holding it close to his chest.

Fidget drew his spear back, sliding down into a crouch, the spear facing away from him. He leapt upward, spinning around quickly, the spear's purple blade digging sharply into the ride armor's chest and face. He slammed his feet into the armor's chest, shooting upward. He whipped the spear around, aiming it downward. He whipped his legs around, spinning slowly, the blade drilling downward into the Reploid's head, piercing down into the armor. He leapt off the armor as Orichalcon's wrist lasers cut into the armor's chest and waist, splitting it in half, causing it to rupture and explode.

"Come on Fidget, get out of the way!" Orichalcon's voice called from behind a broken down car, Fidget only laughed.

Panic dashed past Fidget, his saber singing through the air and tearing through a Reploid's waist, tearing it apart. He threw his saber to the opposite hand, swinging it before the first saber trail even vanished from sight, taking apart another Reploid at the waist. He leapt over the twin explosions, cleaving the third Reploid vertically in half. He took a step back, watching it explode in front of him.

"We're running out of things to blow up, guys!" Panic jumped back as a ride armor swung at him, tearing a chunk from the ground, "Oh hell no!"

Panic leapt to the right, going to swing his saber, when a shot rang out, blowing through the Reploid's head, ripping it right off the armor. Panic leapt and slammed his right foot into the armor, slicing it apart in three rapid strokes. He glanced back toward where the group was, smirking as Piro grinned, aiming his sniper buster once more.

Mr. Death ran his scanners far enough ahead to catch where the explosions were coming from. He shook his head a little, adjusting his arm a little so that Alpha can be more comfortable. AX caught back up with them finally, his right arm morphing into his buster as well, keeping it at his side.

"You guys scanned ahead?" The other three stared at him like he was an idiot, "Oh.. Alright.."

Alpha laughed lightly, moving his right hand to the holster of his saber, drawing it out, without igniting it. AX and Anode ran off ahead of them, vanishing around the corner, the sounds of firing busters came to Alpha and Mr. Death's ears.

"Well, we're going to miss out on the fun, Alpha." Alpha just shrugged, as best as he could, "No big.."

"Heh.."

"They're moving forward! Push them back!" Fidget grit his teeth, crouching down, his spear angled perpendicular from his body.

"Something seems to be pushing them forward from behind!" Panic leapt back, landing beside Fidget, his saber at his side.

"Let's take them out, Panic," Fidget grinned at the golden yellow Reploid, who laughed.

The two dashed forward rapidly, the purple and azure blades criss-crossing each other, tearing through multiple Reploids at once. Orichalcon leapt over the car he was hiding behind, his arms out in front of him, the wrist lasers bursting forth quickly, multiple shots lacing into the group of Mavericks, melting their hardware with the electric jolts. Bleu and Piro came out from hiding, Piro's sniper buster changing into a normal buster, he and Bleu firing shots simultaneously on the opposite side of Fidget and Panic as Orichalcon. The Maverick force surging back and forth in confusion. The sounds of explosions coming from the other side reach the five pairs of ears.

"Someone is flanking them! Keep it up, guys!" Fidget slammed his spear into the ground, kicking himself up and leaping over the group.

Anode morphed his buster back to gauntlet mode, igniting the electric end of his saber, running it through a Joe, deactivating it as it explodes. AX leapt over Anode, his buster morphing from stun to kill, firing three shots rapidly as he landed beside Anode, drawing out his saber with his free hand.

"Yahoo!"

The two glanced up as a brown figure flew over the mass of Reploids, sliding to a stop a few feet behind them, twin pistols in his hands, aimed at them. The three all blinked in confused and silent recognition, before Anode diagonally split another Joe apart.

"Hi guys!" Fidget leapt to his feet, grinning.

"Less introduction, more blowing stuff up!" Alpha called from behind him.

Fidget laughed and aimed his pistols for the group, shells ejecting from the pistol barrels almost as quick as he can pull the trigger. Anode slammed his blade up through a Reploid's chest, hefting it up off the ground. He spun and shifted the angle of his wrist, sending the Reploid flying into the group, exploding on contact with another Reploid, taking them both out.

"We're getting closer to the other side. Stop attacking, or you might kill the rest of us Hunters."

"Alright!" AX called, his saber spinning within his left hand, slicing upward through a Reploid.

Alpha kicked upward, using Mr. Death as his balance, his kick sending the head of the Reploid within the ride armor into the air. The head exploded, the armor following seconds afterward. Anode, AX, and Panic all deactivate their sabers, putting them away. Fidget deactivates the blade of his spear, keeping it out at his side, watching Piro, Bleu, and Orichalcon morph their busters back into gauntlet mode.

"Well.. It seems that we've finally finished the attack," Piro smiled.

"Hey, Piro. Did you miss us?" Piro and Panic laughed, as did Fidget.

"Who are these two, Fidget?" Anode asked, AX answered before Fidget could, "Bleu and Orichalcon, the other half of Unit 17 under X's command."

"Ah.." Anode nodded to the two as they gave shy grins.

"We should probably head back to the base now, since we don't need to be out here anymore," Panic suggested.

"Did 32 tell you guys anything about Bread Man, did he?" Alpha asking in the following silence.

The five of them all shook their heads, looking toward the four with confusion. Fidget shook his head and spun his pole, placing it into storage after shortening it. He set his hands on his hips, staring over at Alpha and Mr. Death.

"What would 32 have to tell us about Bread?"

"You guys saw a blue Reploid run past right?" Mr. Death asked, looking toward Fidget, who nodded, "Yea, he was carrying.. A ... Body.. Oh come on! You can't be serious!"

"What?" Fidget shook his head, "Bread Man? Hurt? Pfft."

"Believe it.." Mr. Death said, and Alpha nodded, "Something went wrong after he activated me and Franco, the blue Reploid you saw earlier. I shot him straight through the chest."

The silence that followed was deafening to Mr. Death, but he endured it. Everyone but Alpha, AX, and Anode stared at him, their jaws slackened. Panic dropped his helmet to the ground. Fidget was the first to recover and coughed lightly, the rest followed suit, turning their gaze away.

"Anyways.. We need to go." Mr. Death helped Alpha turn and lead him down the road toward the base.

AX and Anode immediately followed after them, keeping up with the slow pace easily. Bleu and Orichalcon followed rather quickly, having not known Bread Man as well, they didn't feel as down as Fidget, Panic, and Piro did. After a few minutes, Fidget shook his head and began to follow after them, Panic and Piro quickly running to catch up with him. When they catch up with them, they're all standing in front of the building. Alpha smiled, laughing a little.

"I'm just glad the place is still standing, let alone in one piece."

"Welcome back, my friends.." 32 stood poised in the doorway, his hands at his sides.

Enzan stood at his side, with X a few feet behind them both, his arms crossed over his chest. Fidget and AX stand before 32, then Fidget suddenly laughed and hugged the scientist Reploid, shrieking with glee, with AX trying to contain himself.

"Glad to see you too, Fidget." Fidget dislodged himself after a few moments.

"32.." 32 turned to Alpha, who limped up close to him with Mr. Death's help still, "He's fine, Alpha. He's downstairs in his pod." Tears welled up in Alpha's eyes and he broke from Mr. Death's grasp and ran as well as he could toward the stairs, vanishing down the stairs, leaving Mr. Death standing in front of 32.

"You're the one who did it, aren't you?" Mr. Death nodded, "Don't worry. You're a Hunter, and things go wrong. Let me scan your systems later, I'll find out what went wrong. Your brother left for some reason, but he'll be back soon. You can head to the med lab for repairs."

Mr. Death nodded and walked past 32, heading down the stairs. As he was going down, he passed by a red reploid. X uncrossed his arms and set his hands on his hips, staring toward AX, who avoided his gaze.

"AX."

"... X.."

"PX is here too." The red reploid that passed Mr. Death stood beside X as he made the comment, speaking lightly, "I'm here right now."

AX and PX met gazes, staring toward each in silence. No one else seemed to want to talk, not even Fidget. AX finally turned his gaze away, and PX glanced toward X, who only moved his gaze back and forth between them.

"Let us go downstairs brothers.. We can speak to father.." AX nodded, so does PX, who agrees,"Let us."

"Oh, and 32.." X turned his gaze to 32 for a moment, "Axl.. He's downstairs in the same room that Enzan found earlier."

AX stepped around 32, who watched him pass. X set his hands on both of his brothers' shoulders and lead them over to the stairs and down the steps into the basement. 32 turned back toward the rest of the group that was gone. Enzan vanished from his side, making his way downstairs to go and get Axl.

"You all can head downstairs as wanted.. I don't require anything from you but to get recovered, recharged, and rested." 32 smiled and turned on his heel, heading downstairs after Enzan.

Fidget set his hands on Bleu's and Orichalcon's shoulders and turned them toward the stairs and nudged them forward lightly. The three of them headed toward the stairs. Fidget glanced back at the door, watching Panic and Piro lean against both side of the entrance. Anode came into the base and set his back against a shadowed part of the wall.

"You three coming down?"

"No.." Panic answered shortly and Piro picked it up, "We're going to wait for Lizzy."

"Alright.."

Franco shifted Mike Cain's body on his shoulder, lurching lopsidedly around the corner. He came to a stop, seeing two Reploids standing at the entrance to the base. They both look toward him and wave him over.

"Is that.. Hey, it's Mike."

"You know him?" Franco looked at the grey Reploid.

"Yea, it's Mike Cain. He used to work with me in Unit 6." Panic laughed aloud, "Shut up, Panic."

"Take him downstairs to 32, he's looking for you too. Your brother is down there as well."

"Thanks.."

He shifted the body once more and took off at a run, heading into the base, aiming for the stairs and heading down the staircase at multiple steps at a time.

Fidget, Bleu, and Orichalcon head into Fidget's room, where there are three pods lined up on the side wall. Bleu and Orichalcon patted the pods that they used to use when the base was still in use. Fidget stopped in the middle of the room, setting his hands on his hips.

"I'm glad I found you two, you know.. It hasn't been the same without the others of my unit."

"We're glad to be back, Fidget.." Bleu smiled, tears welling in her eyes.

"I wouldn't want you to have to rebuild us, and not it really be us.. Lacking the memories of our past missions together.." Orichalcon spread his arms in front of him.

"Glad to have friends like you two. I wouldn't have rebuilt you if I didn't find you. I would want to remember you the way you used to be. My friends and partners in Hunting.. Thank you."

Bread Man sat on top of the med bay table, Aasterinian leaning against it at his side. He swung his legs back and forth slowly, glancing toward the door occasionally. It finally slid open and Alpha charged into the room.

"Bread.. Man.." Alpha lurched forward, but his leg joints finally took him down and he fell to his knees, tears streaking down his cheeks, "Bread Man.."

He got down from the table and wrapped his arms around Alpha's small shoulders, helping him to his feet and on to one of the med bay tables. He smiled down at his friend and partner.

"I'm fine, Alpha. And soon, you'll be fine too. Then we can go back out on missions together and kick some serious ass." Alpha laughed softly, before Bread Man deactivated him.

Bread Man turned his head toward the door as 32 stepped through, followed by a black and red Reploid who Bread Man recognized easily. He nodded toward 32, who lead the Reploid toward another table, motioning for him to get on it. Mr. Death didn't look toward Bread Man as he got up on to the table.

"Can you wait to deactivate me, 32? I want to wait for my brother." 32 laughed softly, "I don't even need to deactivate you, the damage is all external."

"Oh.. Alright."

Aasterinian moved around the middle table, but stopped as the door slid open again, with Franco standing in the doorway with a green and black Reploid hanging over his shoulder. 32's lip twitched at the sight of Franco.

"Why did you leave, Franco? I told you I needed you to come back here so that I could repair you."

"Sorry, 32, I got tired of waiting, so I checked out the radar and saw a blip. So I went to check it out and found this Reploid.. Mike Cain."

"Put him on the table over there. We'll work on him in a bit, after Alpha, you, and your brother are all repaired." Franco laid Mike down on the side table, taking the middle table for himself, Aasterinian turning toward him.

"Hey Franco.." Franco turned and gazed over at his brother, their eyes locked and they both knew that something was wrong with their systems, something that would continue to reappear later, "Hey MD.."

Anode pushed away from the wall and stood in the middle of the entrance. Panic and Piro looked toward him and then stepped past the entrance and leaned against inner walls, closing their eyes. Anode crossed his arms over his chest, closing his eyes beneath his helmet, letting his scanners sweep the area. As soon as he heard the beep, he reopened his eyes, watching a Reploid come running toward the base.

"Panic. Piro. She's back."

Lizzy stopped in front of Anode, staring up at him with a dirty smirk on her lips.

"Stop staring at me, Anode. It scares the inner child." Anode shook his head and stepped to the side, letting her pass.

As she headed toward the stairs, Panic and Piro fell in step behind her, following her down the stairs into the basement level of the base, leaving Anode at the base's entrance. He crossed his arms back over his chest, letting his eyes close once more.

Dr. Light's pod came to life as the three of them all came into the room. The smile on his face was broad, and the three of them couldn't help but smile, even slightly. X leaned against the wall by the pod, PX leaned against the wall by the door, and AX took a seat in the chair for the desk.

"Three of my sons.. You've returned to your old, frail father.."

32's hands moved quickly, working the hammer rapidly against the dents on Mr. Death's armor, setting it flat. He then followed it up by drawing a mixture of components of the cracks in the armor, sanding it down without removing any paint, fixing the cracks in the armor. After a few minutes, Mr. Death sat up, his entire body repaired.

"Wow.. You're fast, 32.." Mr. Death looked across the room at Franco, who was still laying flat, the female Reploid named Aasterinian replacing the left leg armor, and then he sat up as well, "Heh. You three are quite a team."

"32 and myself were able to repair a full unit of Hunters in about twenty minutes, even when most of them were internally damaged as well. Twenty-five minutes if power core damage," Bread Man reactivated Alpha, who opened his eyes slowly, staring at the ceiling.

"I'm glad to be alive, Bread Man. And glad to see you alive, too. My friend.." Bread Man smiled softly, patting Alpha on the forehead, "Stop messing around and get up. Go recharge in your room."

Alpha nodded and leaped from the table, heading out the door and turning right toward his room. Mr. Death and Franco both got off of their tables and heading out of the med bay as well. 32 and Aasterinian joined Bread Man at the table holding Mike.

"I haven't seen him since he went Mercenary on us after that one mission.. Hmm.. I wonder where Franco found him," Bread Man inquired.

"It doesn't matter. He's back, let's repair him and see if he wants to stay, if not. We can let him go," 32 responded, crossing his arms.

"You two stop the badinage and let's please get to work," Aasterinian's soft voice barely came above a whisper, and the three began the repairs needed to bring Mike back on-line.

'_How long have I been a Hunter.. Too long. My brothers are probably gone, and Desolate has long since vanished from my mind, probably vanished before Ignis and Frostbite were gone. I'm the only Wily bot left it seems.. Unless Zero is still alive out there somewhere. It just seems funny how I could have lasted so long and none of them were able to endear the wait.. I'll join you eventually my brothers.. Not too soon I hope, I'll give you a long enough time to forgive me for killing our father..' _Anode lifted his chin from his chest, staring out over the road in front of him, visions of Ignis and Frostbite appearing in front of him, Ignis sneering and Frostbite hiding his emotion behind his face mask.

Enzan ran down the hallway, passing by Alpha, who ran into his own room. He took a turn down a hallway and stopped in front of silver door. He set his hand against the cold steel and shoved, the metal splitting from the attack on it from Elcazor and the door fell apart in front of him. He stepped through and gasped.

"Axl?" He ran forward and crouched beside the fallen Reploid, who was covered in the liquid from the pod, "You haven't been out for very long. Reactivate. Come on Axl.."


	35. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34 - Ancient Technology**

High above the Earth, closer than any other body within the vast area of space, was the moon, a single structure hovering millions of miles from the world that we live on. Up close, the surface is desolate. Craters abound, some spilling a light grey vapor, wafting upward into space. Earthquakes, or so it seemed, tore across the surface, shattering Luna's delicate crust, the shattered pieces floating upward for a moment before dropping back down to touch against the surface. The 'earthquake' broke through the crust and rumbled downward many yards into the inner shell of the massive body of rock. A spiral gate warped the view of space in a solitary area, the black of space, grey of the moon, and white of the far off stars swirled into a mixture. What seemed to be lightning crackled around the edges of the phenomenal and unnatural event, as a single figure stepped through the portal.

The large gargoyle-like figure swung his left leg forward and set it down against the moon's surface, another rumble shook the body of rock, shattering the surface with another 'earthquake.' The spiraling void behind him shifted, twisted, and then finally closed in upon itself, vanishing from sight as quick as it had come, leaving the figure to stand alone on the surface on Luna.

"Where am I.." His voice was very deep-toned, speaking through the dark gray mask covering his face.

He turned his large body slowly, blinking all six eyes upon his helmet at once, a solitary eye placed upon his chest, unblinking as it followed the gaze of the three pairs of main eyes. As he turned around completely, he saw the Earth. A large beautiful sphere hovering far from him, yet it looked to be so close that he could just leap and land there in a matter of seconds. He watched the white forms shifted across the Earth's surface, spiraling around and within themselves, before meeting a certain point and ending, vanishing from sight.

Four figures came to a stop behind the gargoyle, the sun glinting magnificently off their armor. The one in front was a deep azure color, tall and straight, his eyes covered with a golden vizor. His feet had claws attached to them, as did his gauntlets. At his right, stood a figure just as tall as the first one, but his armor was red on his chest, gauntlets, and legs, but a cream-tan color on his shoulders and feet. The two colors were mixed on the helmet. At the blue figure's left stood a figure that stood awkwardly. The knees bent the wrong way, it seemed, and it had insect like antennae attached to his helmet, with a tail that lay limp behind his body. In his right hand was a large staff, that came up to his shoulders. His armor was entirely red, a deep blood-like red. The final figure stood shorter than all the others, it was in the shape of a panther, with fangs bared. It had a mane, made of large metallic spikes, with claws lancing outward from both pairs of paws.

"It's about time you got here.." The large blue one was the one that spoke, the gargoyle turned his head back to stare at the four of them.

"Who.."

"You'll learn that soon enough, but our time here is limited."

The Egyptian Desert had unleashed another squall of sand upon its landscape, the storm flew across the golden brown surface, wailing like a banshee, driving straight over multiple pyramids, leaving them covered in a thick layer of sand, that slid right off and returned to the sea of sand. A group of Reploids stood around a small rectangular hole in the southern edge of the pyramid.

"Hurry up Grover." Growled a dark purple Reploid standing off to the side.

"The passage isn't easy to find, Darkshine, give him some time." A bulky Reploid spoke up a few feet to Darkshine's left.

"I don't want to have to stand out here any longer, so just hurry." Darkshine crossed his hands over his chest, closing his eyes.

Grover's drill crashed down into the hole, a rumbling immediately following. A yelp of surprise swept out through the hole, alongside a rush of dust, as the hole gave away and Grover was swept down through it.

"Dammit.. Go after him!" Darkshine called, shoving the two of the closest Reploids toward the hole.

Deep within the bowels of the pyramid, through the almost endless maze of corridors, tunnels, and traps, was a single room. A single, empty room. Well, empty except for the sarcophagus. It was covered with multiple layers of dust. A rumble shook the room slightly, sending a wave of dirt from one side of the room all the way across to the other, sprinkling the top of the relic with small chunks of rock and dirt. A tiny rock landed in the center of the sarcophagus, hitting a small purple gem, sending a shutter through the tomb. Latches at each corner of the casket flipped open, moving clockwise from the top of the head. As the final latch clicked back and flipped open, a loud grinding noise filled the small chamber. Metal gears crunched together as the lid of the sarcophagus slowly lifted and slid it to the left, age and dust having corrupted the gears, making them turn slowly. As the lid finally reached its destination, a pair of soft green eyes erupting within the room, shimmering slightly.

"Please.. Tell me your names." The large blue one sighed heavily.

"If you insist, Befallen.. My name is Alcedes," The red insect-like figure spoke up, his voice accented strangely, but Befallen couldn't place it.

"My name is Triton, and this is Panthera," The cream-colored militaristic figure said, while gesturing toward the panther-like one of the group.

"And who is he?" Befallen's eyes settled on to the final figure; the large blue one.

"My name is Xardion, and we're part of a secret group in the Multiverse Police." His voice was deep, and yet tinged with compassion, "We were sent here to assist you in becoming an asset to this dimension."

"But why this one exactly?"

"Because it's one of the few you can help save. No one here knows of you or your past counterparts, it seems to be one of the few dimensions where you never existed," Alcedes antennae twitched.

Panthera strode forward, his mouth slightly ajar, carrying something within his fangs. He dropped it down in front of Befallen's large figure, walking backward into his place, never emitting a sound. Befallen gazed down at what Panthera had brought him, he dropped down to one knee and scooped it up in one hand.

"Is this.." Befallen began.

"Yes, it is. We specifically brought you to this spot for that power crystal," Alcedes grinned, which looked rather creepy on his insect-like face.

"Now, we have to teach you a new trick before we run out of time. The agency didn't allot us a lot of time here." Xardion's arms crossed over his chest.

"Alright."

The green-eyed figure sat up slowly, shaking his head a few times, his mane of silver hair falling easily down to his ear and jaw, the braided ponytail whipping against the bottom of the sarcophagus. He pushed himself up and slid out of the sarcophagus, his light grey armor gleaming slightly within the dim light of the tomb.

"Ugh.. I can't believe I let him stick me in there."

"It's about time you woke up, Phaiy."

The voice came from his wrist and he lifted his right arm, a small light flashing on his gauntlet. He pressed the light, a hologram activating immediately, projecting the image of a man before him. The man was adorned in dull red armor with gold trimming. The armor plates around his mid-section were articulated to allow for freer movement. His hair was black and slicked back, a golden circlet, with an emerald embedded within the center of it, swept down to frame his face and then crept back up to make wings over his ears. The same green gem was embedded into his gauntlets and one of the plates in his mid-section. A deep purple cape swung freely behind him, like there was a breeze. The clasps for the cloak also had emeralds set in them.

"Hmph.. Hello Nexys," Phaiy's voice was clearly filled with distaste.

"It's nice to see you as well, son. It's been quite a long time."

"Why did I have to stay in this dismal tomb?"

"It was for your protection. I'm in Larune.." Phaiy's eyes widened at the name. Larune was the name of a pocket dimension that Nexys has told him about before he was imprisoned in the sarcophagus. It was the location of the Taogus, a machine made to play God.

"Has Rift arrived yet?" Nexys nodded his head, "So why are you talking to me?"

"I have a little bit of time.." Rift was the name of Nexys' hellbent double. Rift believed that he is right and just, and planned on using Taogus to remove all the "unjust" within the universe. Nexys thought that neither of them had the right to make that decision. But that.. Is another story altogether.

"It's been three hundred years, Phaiy." Phaiy's eyes widened greatly, "Do not freak out, son. I did not expect you to be locked away that long, but now is the perfect time for you to be awakened."

"I feel so out of date.." Nexys laughed, sounding hollow through the hologram, "You were out of date when you came to be, but I also plan on updating you."

Nexys' right hand lifted from his side and he snapped his fingers. The green gem in the center of Phaiy's belt shimmered and exploded in a flash of light, forcing him to close his eyes. The light swept over his entire form, covering him in the brilliant green light. As it faded, he blinked a few times, his eyes now a dark purple color. His light grey armor had changed into a dark red color, with purple gems located on his shoulders and gauntlets. The emerald in his belt had morphed into an amethyst, sparkling a soft purple, and his chest plate also gained an amethyst. Golden trimming lined each plate of armor. The carbon rubber suit darkened into an almost black grey.

"There now, much better. Don't you agree, son?" Phaiy only nodded, staring down at his new armor.

"I must leave you now.. The time has come for me to confront Rift."

"Wait, I still need.."

"I have no more time. I will talk to you again sometime, I promise."

The hologram faded out, the light fading away as well, leaving Phaiy in the darkness of the tomb. A loud grinding noise immediately came to his ears, making him lift his head. His right arm immediately morphed into an oval-shaped buster, three barrels jutting from the end.

Darkshine slid down the tunnel behind the two other Reploids with him, who were behind Grover. His wings dug into the steep incline the farther down he went, making him wince in pain as they threatened to be torn right out of his back.

"How much farther!" Darkshine yelled down the tunnel. Grover's reply was a grunt and then a slight yelp.

Darkshine heard a thud, and then two more thuds. He then reached the end of the tunnel himself and slipped down through the hole, throwing himself forward as to not land on Grover and his two partners. He landed in a crouch, lifting his helmet to see someone standing in front of him, with their buster out.

"Oh shit.."

"Oh shit.."

Phaiy smirked and he mentally programmed his buster to switch to 'Plasma Mode.' He steadied his buster with his free hand and fired, energy pellets ripping out from the barrels within his buster, spraying the far wall of the small tomb with plasma. The Reploid that had landed in front of him swept a pair of black wings to protect himself, the plasma just splashing across the surface.

'_I can still get the other three..'_

Phaiy lurched forward and slammed his foot against the pair of wings, shoving himself upward. He switched his buster from 'Plasma Mode' to 'Shotgun Mode' and aimed his buster again. The recoil from the shot sending him flying back over the crouched Reploid. The shotgun blast exploded violently against the three Reploids and the wall, tearing them to pieces, three explosions happening in rapid succession as he landed back by the sarcophagus, sliding to a stop.

"Haha, such power."

'_Fuck, fuck, fuck..'_

Darkshine swung his wings backward, leaping backward toward the tunnel hole. He watched the Reploid re-aim his buster, intent on firing. The resounding click sent a wave of relief over him.

"Out of ammo, huh? You're screwed now."

"I'd leave now, it doesn't take too long for it to recharge. You want to end up like your buddies?"

'_Ah.. He's make a very good point.. Screw this.'_

"Dammit.."

He pulled his wings in around him and leapt, shooting straight up the tunnel hole, triangle-kicking off the wall until he was out of the hole, landing in the sand. He slammed his fists into the ground.

"Dammit! Grover.. Xin.. Broad.."

"Ah.. He took the bluff.."

Phaiy morphed his buster back into his gauntlet and stepped over to the tunnel that the group had made. He shook his head and walked back over to the sarcophagus. He slid it to the side and dropped down through the hole. He landed with a metal clank and swatted to the side with his right hand, activating a switch.

"Good thing I remembered the elevator system."

A small panel glimmered faintly and then sparked, and stuttered to life. A few overhead lights began to blink to life, very faintly and then enough to illuminate the panel and a five foot radius around it. The panel was attached to a deactivated pod. The panel continued to spark and glimmer, before the picture went to snow, making loud static noises. After a few minutes, the panel faded to black and blinked slowly. It flashed brightly, slowly forming a large, white 'W' in the center, activating the pod. The lights within the ruins clicked on all at once, illuminating the large underground lab. The room was covered in large 'W' logos all along the walls.

"Ah.. I'm finally alive again."

Xardion took hold of the power crystal in Befallen's hand and squeezed it sharply. The crystal glowed within his touch and then shuddered within his grasp. As Xardion lifted his hand away, the crystal's glow traveled up Befallen's large arm and flowed over his entire body. He closed all of his eyes, aside from the eye on the chest. Xardion took a step back, standing in front of the other three as the glow brightened.

"What's going on?"

"You will understand in a moment, Devon." The name calmed him almost immediately as the glow continued to brighten for a moment, and then began to fade once more.

Befallen opened his eyes, all of them simultaneously, and blinked rapidly. He glanced around for a moment, before noticing the shorter figure standing at his side. The figure was about half his size, with the same shaped helmet, dark red carbon suit, and dark grey armor that he had. The figure lifted the helmet from his head and shook his head of brown hair, grinning up at him.

"A.. Mini me?"

"Exactly."

"Why?"

"You're a large guy, Devon. You can't go everywhere. With a smaller you around, you can perform things you couldn't before. Believe me, Devon, this is a good thing." Alcedes nodded to him, Befallen nodded back.

"Now that you've learned the trick, we must ask you to head to Earth now. We have to get back to the Multiverse Police HQ." Triton hefted his rifle on to his shoulder.

"Alright.. But-"

"To make him appear, just think of him being there. To make him vanish, just think of him gone. You have to keep your hand on the crystal when you do it."

Befallen nodded, thinking of the mini-him being gone and it vanished in a sparkle of red light. He turned toward the Earth, looking toward the large blue mass before leaping into the space, activating his thrusts and shooting out through space, heading down toward the Earth.

"Multiverse Police Headquarters, this is Xardion. Leader of Special Squad 697." Xardion's hand rested against the side of his helmet.

"Multiverse Police Headquarters, relay your information Unit 765." Xardion grimaced at his unit number, "Befallen has acquired the power crystal and the ability. He's on his way to Earth now to assist in keeping this dimension from collapsing."

"Unit 765, Sentinel Duo was released to Earth a few hours ago. Can you confirm his arrival?"

"Say what?" Alcedes looked to Xardion in confusion.

"They sent Duo.." Triton watched Befallen's figure make his way toward the planet.

"Confirmed, Headquarters. Duo has arrived on the planet."

"Is Special Unit 482 still with you, Unit 765?" Xardion nodded faintly, "Confirmed, Special Unit 482 is still with us."

"You can return to your previous mission until further notice, Special Squad 697."

The transmission cut out and Xardion dropped his hand from his helmet. Panthera laid down on the moon's surface and closed his eyes. A small figure made his way out from behind a moon rock, standing with his weight on his right foot. He had dark brown hair and a pair of sharp blue eyes.

"Are we heading back now, Xardion?"

"Yes, Ender, we're heading back now."


	36. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35 - Is This Peace?**

"They're retreating!"

"Thank the heavens."

"Haha! They didn't get my mooch!"

Goompas swung open the door to his office haphazardly, not expecting to see anyone in there. He found Sherrie kneeling in the middle of the room, stacking folders together. She glared over at him, he just reaching up and scratching the back of his head. She opened his mouth to lash out at him when the ring of a phone entered into the office. She left Goompas' office as the phone on her desk began to ring, quickly answering it. Goompas stood there in silence, her voice immediately dropping slightly, barely speaking as she gave her entire attention to the person on the other side of the line. After a few minutes, she came back into the his office, the shadow of a smile on her lips.

"What it is, Sherrie?" Goompas' curiosity easily heard in his voice.

"Sir, that was the Captain of the police force here in Washington. He says the Mavericks are retreating." Just as she finished that sentence, the phone rang again. She held up her hand and ran back to it.

"Eh.. Huh?" He followed her out of his office, staring down at her phone, each line blinking to show that someone was calling in.

Sherrie quickly switched between the lines, being as courteous as she could with each caller, giving each one a bit of time to explain why they were calling. Goompas averted his gaze to her face, perking a brow as the shadowed smile from early grew into a full-toothed smile. She glanced up at him as she finally got off the line.

"Sir. We have reports from military units in New New York, Los Angeles, Baghdad, Kyoto, everywhere. The Mavericks have ceased their assaults."

"Are you sure?" He was confused at this turn of events.

"Positive. The ranking generals allocated around the world just called in to confirm it to us."

"I wonder what made them retreat.. It couldn't have been the announcement of the Wandering Souls, could it?" Sherrie only shrugged.

The two of them went back into Goompas' office. He fell into his chair, sighing lightly. He sets his head into his hands, a violent throbbing began to form at his temples. Sherrie finished collecting the folders, carrying them to her desk, sorting them into their respective slots for people to pick up. She came back into his office when she was done.

"Can I get you anything, sir?" He only shook his head. "Sir.. What are you going to do about Cicero?"

"I don't have a way to convince him to stay in office, so there really isn't a point in trying to keep him at my side."

Sherrie turned her head, the sound of footsteps resonating in the wooden hallway. Cicero stopped right outside of Goompas' office, Goompas himself lifting his head from his hands. In Cicero's hands was a box full of his personal effects. Goompas frowned unevenly, making it look more like a painful grimace.

"I heard the phone ringing, a lot, so I came to see what it was about."

"The Maverick attacks have ceased, Cicero." Sherrie smiled widely.

"Really? Fantastic. Now we won't need the Replo-"

"No, Cicero. They have ceased for now. None of the Maverick squads that attacked were reported being destroyed. They are still out there. For some reason, they just retreated. And we have no explanation as to why."

"Ah.. So you're going ahead with the Reploid Program." He cast his eyes to the floor, showing his disappointment.

"Cicero.. The Reploid Era has come about again. For all we know, even the Legendary Maverick Sigma is back. We can't take any chances. And our weaponry isn't powerful enough to destroy the Mavericks, as proven already." Goompas spread his arms out in front of him.

"I have to agree with you.. But if only you put more money into developing better weaponry, instead of resorting straight to Reploids."

"Umm.. Goompas did. He invested in the top scientists to create new weapons, but none of the weapons could penetrate even the brittlest Titanium X Alloy, that Reploids are made of." Sherrie crossed her arms behind her back, glancing back and forth between the two of them.

"Ah.. Dammit.." Cicero grit his teeth slightly, closing his eyes.

"Stay in office, Cicero. I need you by my side, you're the only person I can trust to assist me in this era." Goompas stared at Cicero, silence following for a few minutes.

"... Okay. I'll stay. But from now on, you let me in on the Reploid Program. I want to help, since I can't stop you from doing it." Cicero set the box of his things down at his feet.

"Thank you, Cicero.."

Faern wiped the back of a hand across his forehead, clearing away the droplets of perspiration that had formed from the quick work on Proto Quick. Claude stood a few feet from him, sighing heavily.

'_He's a brilliant young man, almost like his younger brother..'_

"Well.. Since the excitement seems to have died down, I'm going to go recharge again.. Unless you need me for something, Dr. Faern?" Shift's soft voice came from a back portion of the lab, where the silver Reploid was leaning against the wall.

"No, but thank you Shift. You have provided me with enough help for today. I thank you greatly for your services, neither of us would probably be alive if you hadn't arrived when you did."

"No need to thank me, Faern, we're both fighting for the same goal here. I'm just doing my part to keep my people alive as long as possible. So, thank you."

Shift turned away from Faern and made his way toward the Recharge Pods that he and Lizzy had used earlier. He climbed back up inside of the one he used earlier, closing his eyes and letting the energies from the pod pulsate through him.

'_Why did he thank **me**? He saved my life.. I didn't do anything to save his.. Reploids are weirder than I thought..'_

Faern turned his attention back to Claude, Proto Quick, and Proto Burn. Burn was leaning against the edge of the lab table that Proto Quick had been on only minutes before. Claude had his arms crossed across his chest, standing next to Quick, a smile on his lips. Proto Quick began to tap his foot, his eyes moving between the three people with their attention on him.

"I think you made me faster than I was before, doc!" And with that, Quick increased the speed of his tapping foot.

The clattering of metal against concrete reverberated around the entire building, continuing on even after he stopped. Burn shook his head, de-igniting the flames from his fingers and resting his hand on Quick's shoulder.

"I told you, Master Claude, that Dr. Faern would make Quick better than ever."

"I should have had faith in your wisdom, Burn, I'm extremely sorry for not believing you." Burn laughed at that.

"Master Claude, he is a roboticist and my brother is a robot, it was impossible for him to resist." Faern smiled softly, nodding in agreement.

'_It's amazing.. Robert created these two? I'll have to ask him how he did it, how **HE** made such lively and enthusiastic robots.. Maybe the poor man is lonely. This entire situation is heart-breaking, and that old fool started these chain of events that will send the whole world into turmoil.'_

Blues pushed himself away from the wall where he had been leaning. He walked over to the computer and slid down into the seat, the monitor still illuminated with Shift's data. He pulled the seat up close to the keyboard and lightly tapped a key, the data changing to a different Hunter's. He read through it, moving through the database rather quickly.

Mega Man glanced over at his brother and made his way to the computer as well. He leaned in over the chair, reading through the data of the Hunters that Blues stopped on. He perked a brow at the current Hunter.

"Rimshot?" He snorted.

"Heh.. Rimshot is apparently a Light bot." Mega Man stopped laughing immediately, "What?"

"That's what it says. Do you think the old man got another one built?"

"Impossible.. He only had those two last projects.."

"Did he have any kids? Did the old man have a wife?"

"Father never had any kids, except for us of course. I don't think there was a love life."

"Coincidence then?"

"Most likely.. And look at his specs, he's powerful." Blues grinned, "He's got a buster even I can admire, but a name I abhor."

Mega Man smirked widely as Blues tapped the key again, skipping over a few of the lower-class Hunters. They began to ascend into a system of groups called 'Units.' Blues stopped tapping the key at 'Elite Unit 17,' on a blue Reploid.

"Well, well.. If you'd look at that. Mega Man got older."

"Wow.. It's like looking through some really ugly water." Blues laughed slightly, "Are you sure that's not a mirror you're looking through?"

"Haha.." Mega Man reached down and tapped the key twice, stopping on a familiar looking red Reploid, "Guess it wasn't just me Light was trying to enhance."

"Pfft, this.. 'Proto-X' has nothing on me. No one can be a better me, 'cause I'm the only one arrogant enough to pull it off."

"Oh, so that 'X' guy could pull me off better?" Blues grinned over at his brother, "Well, he's got the ugliness down pat."

"Oh, you're horrible." Mega Man gave him a dirty scowl, taking over and changing the datafile.

"Hey, I'm glad you two are on here. I need you to do something for me once I make a phone call. Is that alright with you two, since you're already looking through the Hunter database?" Faern asked as he walked up behind them.

"Sure thing, doc," Blues said, giving a thumbs up.

"Take your time," Mega Man said, smiling over at Faern, before turning back to the computer screen.

Faern walked past the two of them and stopped next to the end of the computer's base, reaching for the white phone hanging on the wall. He lifted it from the receiver and dialed a rather long number, locking the phone between his ear and shoulder as he wiped oil from his hands, waiting for someone to pick up on the other end. He didn't have to wait long.

"Hello, this is White House Communications Security, please state your name and reason for calling."

"Hello, this is Doctor Christopher Faern, I need to get patched into the White House."

"I'm sorry sir, but we don't allow just any doctor to ca-"

"You're not getting the point. This is urgent information that the President needs to hear."

"I'm sor-"

"Patch me through, it's about the Reploid retreat!"

"Fine, fine, but I'm not getting fired for this."

"Oh, don't worry, you'll probably get a promotion."

"Whatever.."

All three of them glanced in the direction of Sherrie's desk as the phone on it began to ring. She made her way out of Goompas' office and answered it. Goompas and Cicero exchanged looks, Cicero setting his box of personal effects down on one of the chairs in Goompas' office. Sherrie came to the doorway, with a perplexed look on her face.

"Umm.. Goompas, sir, there is a Doctor Christopher Faern on line two. He wants to talk to you about the.. Uhh.. Reploid retreats. Head of Security said that he said it was urgent information you'd really like to hear." Cicero perked a brow at Goompas.

"Patch him through to my phone, I'll put him on speaker." Sherrie went back to her desk and spoke a few words, before tapping two keys on her phone base. The phone in Goompas' office rang and Goompas sett it to speaker phone.

"President Goompas here, this is who again?" The man on the other end sighed.

"This is Doctor Christopher Faern. You're probably wondering who I and what I know. And also, how I know it."

"Sounds like a good place to start, doctor." Goompas and Cicero both crossed their arms at the same time.

"Please, call me Faern. Anyways.. I was a colleague of Robert Sebastian. I've worked alongside him on many projects. The reason for the sudden retreats by the Reploids is because of me."

"And what did you do that made him call them off?"

"I didn't die when he attacked my house, and lab. That was the deal. If I lived through his attack, he'd call the Reploids off for two months."

"Why two months?"

"I guess he figures that two months is long enough for me to build a force strong enough to defeat the thousands of Reploids he'll be able to create in that time. Which is why I'm calling you. I know about the Reploid Program you started."

"The whole world knows, Dr. Fearn. I announced it," Cicero spoke, which seemed to startle the good doctor.

"Damn speaker phones.. Well, considering that for most of the day, I've been trying not to die, I wouldn't have seen that announcement."

"Then how did you know about the program? " Goompas uncrossed his arms and leaned over his desk.

"I was there when Robert made the suggestion to start the program in case of an emergency." Cicero furrowed his brows, slitting his lips.

"I wasn't even in office then." Goompas said, shaking his head, "I'm surprised the President before you even told you about it. I thought it would be like all the other confidential programs, forgotten between Presidents."

"Hmm.. Alright, Faern, so we have two months to create a fleet of Reploids strong enough to fight.. How many Mavericks?"

"At least as many as Sigma had during one year of war." Sherrie gasped sharply, "Yes, that many."

"Alright.. I'll tell the Head of Security to give you a direct patch to my phone, keep in touch, Faern. I wish to speak to you again on this matter."

"Of course, sir." Goompas stopped short of closing the call, "Oh, and call me Goompas, Faern."

"Alright, Goompas."

Goompas clicked the speaker phone off after hearing the phone click off on the other hand. He sat down on the edge of his desk, crossing his arms over his chest, looking at both Sherrie and Cicero. Sherrie wrung her hands, staring down at the floor, biting her bottom lip. Cicero shook his head and returned the stare.

"Well.. Two months it is then."

"We need to go talk to Raijouta."

Dynamo stood tall outside the White House, the sun sparkling across his black and grey armor. He was yelling out orders to the other members of the Wandering Souls; the group he was in command of. A couple of large trucks eased their way down the road, going opposite directions. The other four members of the group were following along behind the trucks, two behind each truck. Storm Eagle and Slash Beast were working together to collect as many of the Reploid bodies as they could, Storm flinging them into the back of the truck. Forte and Flame Stag were working apart, collecting as many of the bodies as they could, before tossing them in. Stag was even melting Reploids together to make them easier to carry. Dynamo smiled widely, nodding at their progress.

'_It's good to be back in charge of Reploids again.. And without Sigma breathing down my neck all the time. I always made more mistakes with this bald head practically resting on my shoulder.'_

Dynamo crossed his arms, sighing with content. He let his eyes close, the red visor turning off to deplete the waste of energy usage. Dynamo tried to think back to the days when he was a bounty hunter, up to the day where Sigma hired him to destroy Eurasia. He shook his head and reopened his eyes, the red visor activating immediately.

Paragon stared at the five members of the Wandering Soul from his position near the front entrance, a few yards away from the leader, Dynamo. He heard and easily recognized the small voice in his ear.

"Hello, Paragon. I'm going to run a field test on your Schematic Analyzer alright?"

"Whatever you say.."

"Alright then! It seems that Dynamo isn't doing anything right now, so lets test the analyzer on him first."

Paragon turned his eyes toward the towering leader of the group, wondering how his armor was supposed to fit on him, but shrugged. He raised his right arm, pointing it at Dynamo. His visor activated immediately at his command, shimmering to a dull blue. To Paragon, Dynamo's body shimmered with a small silverish glow, as a blue light swept up and down his form, from head to toe. As the blue dull faded away, so did the silver shimmer.

"Haha! Success! The Schematic Analyzer works."

"I thought you knew it did.."

"Uh.. Of course I knew, we were testing to see if the fifth way would work correctly. Now, access the file and activate it."

"In public?"

"Yes."

'_Whatever you say..'_

Paragon checked through his files, but didn't find any file that pertained to Dynamo by name. A sigh escaped through his lips, catching Andehshun's attention.

"Ah, sorry, Paragon. The file named is ECA.exe. We couldn't name it DynamoA.exe due to conflict with one of Wily's Robot Master armors we have waiting for you when you get back."

Paragon shrugged again, searching through his files once more. He easily came upon the file, activating it without hesitation. A dull grey glow immediately covered his body, his armor shifting and replacing itself, reforming to look like an exactly copy of Dynamo's armor. He looked down at himself, then over at Dynamo, who was staring at him confused.

"Did it work?" Paragon smirked slightly, watching Dynamo scratch the back of his head, "Yes, and it's confusing Dynamo."

"Alright, you can return to normal now." Paragon nodded, "Okay."

A soft red glow surrounded Paragon's body, his armor shifting back to its normal look, the glow fading to show off his normal armor. He stretched out slightly, as Dynamo blinked a few times, confused at this transformation back to normal.

'_The Wandering Souls need to get an explanation as to why I might start looking like them.. I'll have to secretly get the others..'_

He glanced around the road, a shimmer of light from the alley catching his attention from the corner of his eye. It was gone by the time he turned to look at it. He thinner his lips beneath the silver facemask over his face, shaking his head. He switched into his Guts Armor almost instantaneously, the glow appearing and disappearing quicker than the first time. He reached down and gripped the body of a Reploid, throwing it like a shotput into the back of the truck that Forte and Stag were following. Dynamo went to assist Storm and Slash at the other truck.

Andehshun set his hands down on the keyboard, staring at the screen. Words lined both sides of the screen, with a wide-screen type projection in the middle of the monitor. The projection in the middle was of whatever Paragon was looking at. He smiled to himself, nodding with satisfaction.

'_Satoshi, you would be so proud of your Reploid.. He's become the greatest creation that this era will ever see.'_

He slid off the stool in front of the computer, clicking off the monitor. He walked over to the door and set his hand on the scanner on the wall beside the door. After it had completed its scan of his hand, the door slid open, revealing the room to be part of the main lab under the White House. His own personal room. He stepped out of the room and made his way to where Stabler and Malone was, to help them complete the Reploid on their table.

Goompas and Cicero made their way down to the laboratory underneath the White House. The scientists scrambled about to make it seem like they were doing something, most of which weren't doing anything but playing cards or relaxing. Dr. Raijouta shuffled over toward the two of them, straightening out his lab coat.

"What can I do for you, Goompas, Cicero?"

"We have some interesting news." Cicero slipped his hands from his pockets as he spoke.

"Gather the rest of the scientists, everyone needs to hear this." Raijouta nodded his head and shuffled back into the middle of the lab, calling all of the scientists together.

Goompas and Cicero made their way down to the middle of the giant lab, Raijouta having gathered all of the scientists in a half circle for where the two of them should stand. He even made sure that there was a giant screen behind them, in case they needed to show them anything.

"Alright. Earlier, we got a phone call from a Doctor Christopher Faern concerning the happenings involving the Reploids attacking the city and why they retreated without reason," Cicero began.

"And he told us that Doctor Robert Sebastian promised us a two month period of cease fire for him, which includes us now, to create a force of Reploids capable of withstanding his force of Mavericks. Now, the only problem is that Faern believes that Sebastian is going to be able to create a force as large as Sigma could have during one assault with the Hunters."

"Which means, we either have to find a way to create Reploids faster, or we're boned."

"I think we should find a way to build them faster," Andehshun spoke up from the side.

"I agree with Dr. Grathnoc, but the problem is, we have no available factories that could be created quickly and efficiently into a factory capable of spouting out a rapid number of Reploids." Goompas rubbed his temple lightly.

"So, the decision is up to you." Cicero glanced over at Goompas before continuing, "If you can somehow get a factory up and running with enough time left in this two month period to be able to form an army of Reploids capable of standing against Sebastian's Mavericks, then by all means, go for it. But if you don't think you can.. Well, we don't have a solution either."

"We'll get one going," Andehshun once again spoke, and many other of the scientists shouted their agreement, "You give us a base of operations and we'll give you a factory."

"That's great news. We may yet survive this after all." Goompas strained a smile through his headache, "Continue creating Reploids here until the factory is built. Also, make sure to build the non-generic Reploids here, we want them perfect, and not mass-produced."

Faern replaced the phone back upon the hook and sighed, rubbing his middle and thumb against the insides of his eyes, against his nose. He lifted his head and turned back around. He walked back over to Blues and Mega Man, stopping next to the chair.

"Alright you two, you want to hear about the project I have for you?"

"Sure," Blues stopped browsing and gave Faern his attention, Mega Man did the same.

"Alright. Since you're already looking through the files on Hunters, I'd like for you to pick out a group of Hunters for us to revive first. Make sure you pick good ones, we don't want to bring back weak Hunters. We need the best first."

Mega Man glanced down at Blues, he caught his gaze and returned it. The two both grinned and nodded, returning their attention to Faern. Mega Man lifted his right hand and gave a big thumbs up.

"You picked the best for the job, boss!" Faern laughed heartily, "Alright, don't let me down."

"Wow.. Look at his hair." Blues laughed, covering his mouth, "Not only is it blue, but it's way too spiky for his own good."

"And why would you name someone a number?" Mega Man shook his head in disappointment.

"And why the number 2!" They both laughed at that, shaking their heads and recovering themselves.

"Well, he does have some pretty nifty specs. And he's got high defense."

"Alright, 2 goes on the list. Next up is.. Uh... Aram?"

"He's horny." Mega Man snorted, covering his mouth and nose quickly.

"That was the worst pun I've ever heard. But you're right, he's got horns. Anyways.. He's got a multi-functional buster and a saber. Plus, he's blue."

"When did you like blue? You're red. You **love** red." Mega Man perked a brow at his older brother.

"Doesn't matter. Aram goes down on the list." Mega Man just shook his head, tapping the key, "And next up is.. Grid Cain."

"Well, he's sure got a big sword. Probably overcompen-"

"Bad, Blues. Stop right there."

"What'd I do!" Blues made a mock face of innocence.

"That saber is bigger than you are. Do you want it rammed up your rectum?" Blues grimaced, trembling a little, "Exactly."

"Alright, so do we put him in down knowing he's capable of destroying everything? Or do we keep him off the list in fear of the giant saber?"

"I don't know. He's got the speed, the power, and the defense. He's also got multiple armors he can use. We should probably add him to the list."

"Okay then, add him to it." Mega Man clicked the key to change to the next Hunter we have is.. Oh look, a duo."

"A duo?" Blues looked up from the notepad beside the computer, "This Magnor and Rok. They work together on everything."

"Eh, he's too green and he's got a wonky helmet. And the little hovering ball needs to shave the horn off so we can use him at the football games."

"You're a horrible, horrible person."

"Yeah, well, I'm not here to be liked."

"Well, if we add these two down, how many does that put us at?" Mega Man looked a the notepad as Blues lifted it, counting all the names.

"We're at twelve." Blues glanced up at Mega Man, who nodded, "That's perfect."

"Alright, twelve projects for Faern to deal with while we do nothing."

"Sorry to ruin your dreams of laziness, but we were built as lab assistants first, Blues. We're stuck helping him."

"**DAMMIT**!"


	37. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36 - Other Sources**

Ramzal paced back and forth slowly, with Ran watching on. Ran teetered his legs off the bottom step and swung them opposite of each other in slow rhythmic motions. Ramzal finally stopped pacing, sighed, and turned toward his short friend.

"I don't know what to do."

"The first big question, Ramzy, is did you steal the saber?"

"Like hell! Found it in my attic."

"Alright then! So you're innocent. We have two choices, run away. Or find the culprit."

"I'd rather leave.."

"Then lets go!" Ran leapt from the stairs and landed in front of Ramzal.

"Go? Go where!" Ramzal spread his arms wide, his eyes slightly wide.

"Away from China!"

"But where!" Ramzal yelled after Ran as he ran off down the alley, "Dammit."

Ramzal took off after the small man, chasing him down the dark alley. Ran turned to the right and headed toward the front of his bar. He glanced around for a moment, then bolted across the empty street, with Ramzal right on his heels. The two slipped through the alleys and stopped in an alleyway a few blocks from the police station.

"Alright, Ramzy.. I'm going to leave you now."

"What! But this was **your** idea!"

"I know, and I'm sorry I have to make you do this alone, but I need to go somewhere myself. Just pay attention."

"Alright.." Ramzal stuck his head out of the alley, glancing to both sides, before coming back into the alley.

"Go to the dock, get a boat. Steal one if you have to, but get a boat. Head to Japan and dock in Fukuoka, then find your way to Neo Tokyo."

"But.. Neo Tokyo is half of Japan's length away from Fukuoka."

"You have to go there! When you get to Neo Tokyo, find a man named Frostheart, the leader of the Kitetsu. Tell him Ran sent you."

"Alright."

"I feel like a mobster." Ran grinned widely, "When you find him, I should already be in Russia. I'll contact you then, alright?"

"Are you sure this Frostheart guy is going to let me hang around just because I know you?" Ramzal wrung his hands together, apparently nervous.

"Of course! And if he doesn't believe you, just bellow out a nice loud '**Booyaka!**'." Ramzal laughed at that, nodding.

"Alright, I'll see you later Ran. Don't die on me." Ran smiled wide, "Same to you, Ramzy!"

And with that, Ran turned and ran back down the alley they were in, heading away from the docks. Ramzal turned his head and stared at the docks in front of him, resting against the wall for a moment. He closed his eyes, taking a breather before stepping out into the street.

"Freeze!" The sound of multiple guns cocking came to his ears.

"Oh shit.."

Cody leapt over his chair and scrambled up a ladder behind it, connected to a bookshelf. He stopped on the top rung, skimming over the book names quickly. He stopped on one, re-read the title, and then pulled the book from the shelf. He flipped it open and smiled, closing the book back up..

"Finally found you, you sneaky book you." He slid down the ladder and leapt back into his chair.

He flipped open the book as he sat back down. He set the book down on the table in front of him, skimming over the models and text quickly, flipping through the pages. He stopped on a particular page, a schematics layout for the generic Cain model Reploid drawn into the book's pages. He pulled his notepad toward him, flipping through it to find a clean piece of paper, having to go through twenty or so pages of notes, doodles, and design scribbles to find a clean piece. He twirled his pencil between his middle and fore finger for a moment before setting it to paper, fleshing out a design in the spur of the moment. He used himself as a model for the Reploid.

"Ah-hah. What a handsome devil! Now, for some protective armor.."

He tapped the eraser of the pencil against his chin for a moment, before yawning loudly. He leaned down toward the table a little more, flipping the paper over. He started at the feet first, sketching in the boots lightly, returning back to the feet as he adds minor details at the tip of each boot, as well as around the ankle guards. He yawned again, feeling the pencil slip from his grasp and drop to the paper.

"Ugh.. Too tired.." He collapsed forward against the table, snoring softly.

Ramzal glanced to both sides, a group of five cops on either side of him. His right hand crept toward his back pocket slowly, barely moving at all. Footsteps came from in front of him as a large man in a police uniform stepped off the docks and on to the sidewalk two yards in front of where Ramzal stood.

"My young lad, you just lost." Vuittonet grinned a wide, large-toothed grin.

'_Did Ran set me up.. No, he wouldn't. They somehow knew where we would go.'_

"How did you find me, chief?" Ramzal's fingers coiled around the metal cylinder in his back pocket.

"The saber." Ramzal glanced down at his hand, "Hand it over."

"Tell me how you found me first!" Vuittonet growled, "Ran was tracked. We were following you the whole time."

"... So is this the part where I give up?" Ramzal smirked slightly, mocking a serious tone.

"Yes, this is where you give up. Hand over the saber, punk."

"Better idea.. How about.. I **don't**!"

Ramzal leapt upward easily, since he was already crouched. He pushed his hands forward, pumping the air with enough force to push him backward. His back hit the brick building just as the cops began opening fire on him. He set his left hand flat to the building and kicked off, straight over the road. Bullets flashed around him as he pulled his legs up into his chest, rolling through the air, whipping his body around sharply. He whipped the saber from his back pocket as he began dropping, igniting the blade as he landed, holding it diagonally, the energy singeing through the back of Vuittonet's uniform.

"Call them off. I'm leaving and I don't care if you live to see me get on that ferry."

"Guh.."

"Call them off, Vuittonet!" Vuittonet could have been steaming from the ears, "Your little punk ass is going to be filled with lead, I'll get you, you little shit!"

"Do you want to die, chief!" Vuittonet swallowed heavily, glancing back at Ramzal.

"I'm always the thief, always the mugger, always the murderer, ain't that right, chief?"

"Prime suspects are always the rowdy good for no-**OW**!" Ramzal moved the blade closer, singeing Vuittonet's back with the blade.

"Tell your men to stand down!" Ramzal slammed the ball of his foot into the back of Vuittonet's knee, dropping him to his knees, holding the blade at his neck.

"Listen to the kid!" Vuittonet closed his eyes, sweating heavily, "Put your weapons away.."

Ramzal kept the blade unwavering next to Vuittonet's neck, the smell of singed hair and burnt flesh wafting into his nose, almost making him gag. He swallowed heavily, deactivating the blade as he sent his knee into the back of the chief's head, sending him toppling forward into the concrete road. He turned and bolted down the dock, gunfire splintering the wood around his feet.

'_Bad idea! **BAD IDEA!** Should've kept him as a hostage and chucked him off the ferry!'_

He reached the end of the dock and practically dove forward on to the small ferry. He rolled to his feet at the other side of the boat, his back resting against the boat's inner side, his head on the railing. He gasped sharply as the wood right next to his head exploded, sending wood shards everywhere. He threw himself down and crawled to the side of the mast, hiding behind it.

"God forsaken mother fuc-"

"This is a family place, keep the swearing to a minimum."

'_Everyone's a fucking critic..'_

Ran waved to the driver as the car pulled away from the curb and drove off down the road. He turned and looked around for a moment, before turning and walking down an alley that he was left off in front of. He tapped three times on a solid metal door, a tiny panel opened up a few feet above his head.

"Who dere? Aye cannit see ye."

"A disgruntled ferret disguised as sleep."

"Aye got dat part, but who are ye?"

"Booyaka Ilgrid!"

"Ah, is Mista Ran."

"Open the door, Ilgrid." Ran watched the door buckle slightly and then swing open, letting him step in. It closed behind him.

"Nice to see you again, Ran." The voice came from across the room, shrouded in darkness.

"Booyaka Sachial!" Ran smiled broadly, Sachial only chuckled.

"Just as I remember you from way back when. Always the childish commie-bot. On to why you're here.. The teleporter, I assume."

"La la la.." The massive man known as Ilgrid had his hands over his ears and mumbling a soft tune to himself, Ran perked a brow.

"After our first meeting about the teleporter, he assumed it was something he wasn't supposed to know about and began doing that. It's convenient at times, but it starts getting rather annoying."

Ilgrid stomped around for a moment, before moving out of the primary room that Ran and Sachial were in. Ran watched him go, shrugging slightly and turned back toward Sachial, who had risen from his seat. He swung his arm in the direction that Ran needed to go, following after the shorter Reploid. They entered into a room cast in a blue hue, numerous plants growing about the room. Ran glanced back at Sachial, the taller Reploid shimmering slightly in the blue light.

"What's with the plants?"

"Ilgrid."

"Oh."

They swept out the other side of the room, moving through a door of plastic wrap. The next room was dark, like the first one. Ran sighed lightly, and Sachial only laughed.

"I'm afraid I like the dark, Ran. Don't worry, the next room is where we want to be."

Ran nodded in the dark, heading toward the outline of a door. He stopped in front of it, knowing that it wouldn't open for him, just like last time. Sachial stopped beside him and grabbed the doorknob, setting it aglow in blue from three claws protruding from his knuckles. He twisted the door knob, a trio of clicks sounding from inside the door and it came open. He stepped into a brightly lit room, pulling Ran into the room with him.

"You remember how it works?"

"Yup!" Ran smiled, his eyes closed tightly.

"Well, Ran.. This will probably be our last meeting like this." Ran slightly opened his eyes, but quickly shut them.

"Why do you say that Sachial?"

"Because I do believe that you're going somewhere with a grid of your own, and won't be needing mine anymore."

"I'm sorry."

"For what? I'm glad to be rid of you, you little commie-bot." Ran frowned slightly. "Cheer up, we'll see each other again, I can almost promise you that."

"Do you know something that I don't?"

"Envision mother Russia, Ran."

"How did you.."

"Bye Ran Cossack."

Ran was enveloped in a light he couldn't see, but seemed to come right out of his body and grew brighter than the room. A ring shot down from the top section of the pod, spinning around as it dropped. It touched down at the bottom and then shot back up to the top. The hum of the machine grew louder as the ring began to move quicker between the two portions. As it made its thirteen course between the two pods, the light erupted outward, Ran vanishing as it faded away. Sachial set his right hand to the side of his helmet, sighing.

"See you in two months, Ran.. When the world is once again within the grips of the Maverick King, his Prince, and the Justice's Apostate.."

Ramzal groaned as he got to his feet, pushing the saber back down into his back pocket. He glanced around at the other people on the ferry, names coming to him as his eyes scanned their faces. He looked over at the guy steering the ship.

"How long do you think this little boat ride will take?"

"About as long as I feel like making it, sonny." Ramzal grit his teeth and sat down on the boat's rail.

"Smart ass.."

He closed his eyes, letting the breeze from the Yellow Sea wash over him. He took a deep breath, getting the smell of salt water stuck in his nose. He let the breath out slowly, reopening his eyes and staring out over the small waves of the sea.

'_I wonder how Ran is doing..'_

Ran's body sunk down into the snow, almost all the way up to his head. He gasped loudly and shot straight up into the air. He dropped back on to the snow, standing completely still for a moment to see if he'd sink in. He sighed and began trudging through the snow slowly.

"Booyaka Mother Russia!"

He headed off in the direction of what his internal compass called northeast. He was scanning over a map in his left eye as he looked around with his right eye. The map in his left eye began to blink, catching his attention. He stopped and immediately began to sink into the snow, but he didn't notice as he memorized the distance between his current position and the blinking red dot on his internal map.

'_Welcome home, Ran.'_

He set his hands up on to the surface of the snow and shoved, pushing him from the hole. He rolled to his feet and began running toward the red dot, both of his eyes now watching the ground in front of him, having turned the map off.

Ran finally slowed to a slow pace, his eyes slowly moving up the front of the building in front of him. A small split his face, widening broadly. He leapt straight up into the air, letting out a yell of joy, which was torn away from his ears by the sharp wind. He sunk back into the snow when he landed, but he easily got out and began running toward the building. He blinked, having just noticed something strange about the building.

"Why are the lights on inside.."

'_Do you think.. That my siblings are online after all this time?'_

He was running toward the door quicker than he had ever run before at the thought of seeing his siblings again, he had been alone for too long to care how they felt about him. Just the thought of seeing them sent him going.

The thin, blue rapier blade sliced forward, clashing sharply with the green saber. The two fighters pressed forward, sparks showering off from where the blades met. The orange Reploid wielding the rapier leapt back, spinning around and driving the rapier upward. The Reploid wielding the saber leapt backward as well, narrowly evading the rapier. The two breathed heavily, grinning at each other.

"Come on, don't chicken out on me now."

"Not on your life!"

The blonde-haired Reploid with the green saber dashed in quickly, slicing forward wildly at the orange Reploid. The rapier caught the tip of the saber, and he pushed forward, the rapier sliding down the entire length of the saber. He leapt upward, slamming his knee into the blonde Reploid's chin, sending him stumbling backward.

"Ow, I said to **NOT** hit me in the face!"

"My bad? Now shut up and get back here!"

The orange Reploid dashed after the blonde Reploid, the rapier clashing rapidly with the saber as he pushed him back slowly, each clash of the blades pushing the blonde Reploid back a half a foot or so. The orange Reploid thrust the rapier forward, but the green saber caught it and drove it to the side. He slammed his right hand forward, the metal fist connecting sharply with the orange Reploid's face, sending him flying backward. He hit the ground hard and slid back for a few seconds, before flipping upward and sliding back in a crouch.

"So you're allowed to hit **me** in the face?"

"Pay back is such a bitch?"

"I'm going to cut that fake arm of yours off and kick your ass with it!"

"Love to see you try."

The orange Reploid grit his teeth and ran forward, holding the blade steadily at his side. He whipped it forward, catching it on the green saber, but he spun his body around quickly, flicking the saber around easily with his wrist, moving it to the other side of the green saber. He grinned slightly, twisting his wrist and practically slapped the saber with his rapier, sending it spiraling out of the blonde's hands. He continued his spin, catching the saber with the blade of his rapier, tossing it into the air and catching it in his free hand. He deactivated it and with a grin, tossed it back to his opponent.

"... I hate you."

"Aw, I love you too, Goldenwing."

"You're a horrible, horrible orange man." The orange Reploid only shrugged, the blue rapier deactivating.

"Cronos! You did wonderfully!" Two girls came running toward the pair of guys.

"Thanks, Arabelle." Cronos grinned, wrapping an arm around Arabelle, who shared a striking resemblance to Goldenwing, who shuddered.

"I'm always going to have nightmares of you sleeping with an alternate of me."

"Thanks, Goldenwing. I didn't want to know you dreamed about me." Cronos smirked.

"Glad to see you used the arm for an advantage, Goldenwing. Even if it was short-lived." The other girl had finally spoken, she was shorter than the other three and had on blue armor, with brown hair.

"Thanks, Isis. Glad to know someone cares."

"Oh, I don't care. I just thought it was funny to see Cronos get punched in the face."

"... Thanks." Cronos and Goldenwing both scowled.

"Um.. Hello?"

All four of them turned at once and were shocked to see a Reploid standing in the doorway to the building they had been staying in for only a few days now. He was much shorter than Isis and had on a white coat. Goldenwing's eyes widened slightly.

"Ran?"

"Huh.. Oh, booyaka Goldenwing!"

"You know him?" Isis whispered.

"Ran? Wait, you mean the Cossack bot?" Cronos glanced over at Goldenwing, who nodded, "Wow, I remember him from my home dimension."

"I know Goldenwing, but who are the rest of you?" Ran had walked forward and was now standing a few feet away from the four of them.

"Name's Cronos Saint's TimeLight. I'm not from.. Around.. Here." Cronos glanced over at Goldenwing, who only shrugged.

"My name is Arabelle Kintotech, I'm in the same boat as Cronos." She smiled warmly and gave Ran a pat on the shoulder. Goldenwing and Cronos exchanged glances when Ran didn't die immediately.

"And since you already know Goldenwing, I guess that leaves me. My name is Isis Macrow. The only brain in this entire group."

"Booyaka Arabelle, Cronos, and Isis! My name is Ran Cossack!"

"Cossack.. So you own this place?" Isis glanced around for a moment, then back to the small Reploid.

"I suppose I do, yeah. Since Dr. Cossack and mommy aren't around anymore. That just leaves my siblings and myself." Ran frowned at the mention of the Cossacks, but perked back up at the mention of his siblings.

"Siblings?" Cronos exchanged glances with Goldenwing again, "The Cossack Circus?"

"You have to remember, Cronos, different dimension." Goldenwing whispered to Cronos, who nodded slightly.

"Yup! When I saw lights, I thought it might be then, but it was only you guys. Well, you guys can get back to what you were doing, I only need to do a few things, then I'll be on my way. Don't mind me."

"But.." Goldenwing began, but Ran had already walked past them and into another room that opened at his touch.

"So now what?" Isis looked at the other three.

Cody yawned loudly as he woke back up. He stretched in the chair, rubbing the backs of his hands into his eyes. He blinked a few times and looked down at the notepad that had half of an armor design drawn out on it. He cleared his throat, grabbing the book, pad, and pencil and pushed out of the red chair. He walked around the chair slowly, stopping in front of one of the bookshelves. He grabbed for one of the books, '_Nuklear Age_,' and yanked on it. The book tilted out of the shelf at a slight angle, and as it slid back into place, the shelf shook slightly. It slid open, revealing a sharp decline down underneath the thatch hut. He pushed the book and pad into the crook of his arm, putting the pencil behind his ear. He made his way down the stairs slowly, the bookshelf closing behind him.

"Ugh.. Stupid steps.. Stupid.. Ugh.." He stumbled slightly, catching his balance.

He finally reached the bottom after a few minutes. He bent down and rubbed his calves, yawning again. He shook his head and tossed the notepad and book on to a rather large metal table that looked like one you might find in an operating room at a hospital. He took the pencil from his ear and set it between his lips, twisting it back and forth. He glanced around for a moment, before blinking rapidly.

"Waith a minuth.." He spat the pencil out, "Wait a minute."

He walked around the room for a moment, checking all the cupboards. He even stopped in front of the computer setting against the wall and tried to turn it on. He ground his teeth together and slammed his fists against the keyboard.

"What the hell kind of lab is this! No parts, no power, no nothing!"

"I wouldn't say that.." Cody spun around the room quickly, glancing around, but found nothing.

"Who.. Said that?"

"I did." Cody turned and looked at the computer, "Quick deduction."

Cody stared at the computer screen in silence for a moment, before shaking his head and rubbing his eyes again. He poked the screen a few times, before taking a step back, bumping into the lab table.

"Quit being shocked, I figured you knew. All the Izzy's knew of my existence."

"I didn't get that memo!"

"No worries. Here." A compartment slid open beneath the keyboard and a cup of coffee was sitting there, Cody took it hesitantly.

"So, who are you?"

"The A.I. that all Izzy's have used. And also, whenever you need something, you ask me and I get it."

"But get it from where? And how?" The computerized voice laughed slightly.

"Beneath this is another area, it's a large warehouse. I just bring everything up from there."

"Wow.." Cody sipped at the coffee.

"I'm assuming you want to be a Reploid, or you wouldn't be down here."

"You are correct, oh great and wise A.I."

"Call me I.C.E." Cody perked a brow, "Ice?"

"Izzy's Computerized Equivalent." Cody shrugged, taking another sip, "Okay then. Well, can I get all the necessary equipment needed to build a Reploid?"

"Of course."

Cody turned and watched as compartments all around the room began to open, filled with objects and devices that hadn't been there when he had first checked them when he came down. He moved out to the closet and opened it, finding it stocked with material needed to build a Reploid. He moved back to the table, opening his notepad and did a quick sketch of the rest of the armor's body. He turned around, finding a cart just behind him stocked with metal and devices.

"Wow, this is so convenient. Thanks Ice."

On the opposite side of the town Wei-Hai-Wei, the same town that Cody was in, an explosion had just erupted within a building. A trio of Joe's ran from the building, laughing loudly. Just outside, another group waited, watching the three leap on to their ride chasers. The large group of Reploid menaces sped off on their chasers, their busters out and firing. The energy blasts ripping through the clothing and flesh of civilians. The ground rumbled slightly as a tank rolled up the end of the street.

"Ready.."

The Joe's picked up speed, pushing the throttles forward, readying the boosters.

"Aim.."

A few of them slammed on the boosters, rocketing them forward, tilting the bike back. The energy on the bottom becoming like a blade, severing through people trying to avoid the bikes.

"Fire!"

The tank recoiled sharply, an explosion tearing through the street, two smaller explosions following. Two chasers came sliding out of the smoke. The other eight were all sitting within the smoke, watching it face. Their singular eyes swivelled around before stopping on the tank.

"Fire at will!"

The tank fired again, followed by a spray of rapid machine gun fire. The Joe's were caught in the tank's shell, only one Joe exploding from it this time, taking the ride chaser with it. The other seven pushed forward, four charging their busters while the other three fired at the machine gunners. The four Joe's all fired simultaneously, the blasts ripping holes into the tank, but not damaging it too much.

A long figure stood on top of a building, a cloak waving out behind him. A soft chuckle escaped this man's lips as he lifted the hood of the cloak and let it slide off his helmet. He undid the cloak from his shoulders and let it flap away in the wind, like a kite breaking from the string. His armor was dark grey, with green lines interweaving across the dark armor. His right hand morphed into a rather large buster, the barrels rotating slowly.

"I'm here, I might as well destroy me some Joe's.. Rather funny coming from me.."

He set his left hand down on the side of the building and he pushed off, dropping quickly through the air. He tucked his legs up to his chest, slamming in hard against the sidewalk, digging into the ground a half a foot. He set the buster atop his knee and fired, the barrels rotating rapidly now, energy blasts ripping through the Joe's and the tanks. The gem on his helmet flashed brightly as a grin spread over his lips.

'_Damian, the Joe that returned from death..'_

Ramzal sighed heavily, his eyes closed. He opened them as the horn on the ferry sounded, telling them that they were about to dock. He lifted his head from its tilted back position and sat up, rubbing his hands into the sides of his neck. He got to his feet, turning to see the port town of Fukuoka rise up before him. He stared out over the boat's rail, his eyes slightly wide.

"Wow.. This place is amazing.."

The boat jerked to a stop and he stepped off the ferry, setting his hands behind his head as he walked up the dock toward the actual city. He moved his right hand to his back pocket, shifting the saber from his back pocket to his right front pocket, in easy reach. He moved his hands back behind his head, laughing lightly.

"I can't believe I actually got away from Vuittonet.."

The sound of loud yelling came from Ramzal's right and he tilted his head to look and see what was going on. His eyes widened and he dropped low, a charged energy blast shooting past just above his head, the smell of singed hair coming to his nose. He grit his teeth, drawing out the saber. Two of the Joe's turned and looked in his direction.

"Look at this kid. He has a beam saber."

"Do you think he even knows how to turn it on."

"I know damn well how to turn it on."

Ramzal swung his right arm in front of him, igniting the blade halfway through the swing. He held it at his side, sliding into a stance. The two Joe's both aimed their busters at him, one firing off rapid blasts, while the other charged. Ramzal dove forward, rolling under the shots, as he came to his feet and leapt upward, over the tiny energy blasts. He landed with his back to the Joe and spun, the blade splitting through the metal armor.

"Hiyah!" The Joe exploded behind him as he completed his three-sixty spin.

"You're dead!"

The other Joe fired the fully charged blast in Ramzal's direction, but he swung the blade straight upward, the plasma reacting with the beam saber, and canceling the shot out. He ran forward and thrust the blade straight through the Joe's chest, jerking it upward, out through the Joe's helmet, splitting him in half from the chest up. He leapt backward, covering his face with his hands at the Joe exploded.

"Get him!"

'_Aye, shit.. All over some singed hair, I get myself into such trouble..'_

Ramzal turned and ran into a building just off to the right, energy blasts ripping into the concrete and the walls around him. He pressed his back against the wall just inside the building. He took a quick glance around the place he hid himself in and gasped slightly. He moved into the room and away from the wall, setting his hands lightly on one of the ride chasers in a row of about ten of them. He spun the saber within his hand and shoved it downward into three of the bikes, before the footsteps of the Joe's came to his ears. He jumped on to one of the chasers he hadn't damaged and clicked it on, revving the engine with a mischievous grin.

"God, I love a good hover bike!"

Ramzal grabbed ignited the hovering, pushing the accelerator forward quickly. The bike jerked and tilted back just as the Joe's came into the doorway of the building. The blade beneath the bike tore through one of the Joe's, the bike itself knocking two of them aside. Ramzal jerked the controls of the bike, swinging the bike around right as he exited, pushing forward on the throttle hard, jetting down the road on the chaser.

"Yahoo! And to think, I was going to use the Bullet Train!"

"You're on, X2."

"Gotcha, Smoke."

X2 tapped the side of his helmet once, deactivating the camera that was put in place. He ran across the street, sliding over the hood of a car that was about to hit him. He gave the driver the finger as he stopped in front of the door to the building that the suits from Globotech had gone inside of. He morphed his right hand into his buster, turned, and kicked the door open. The door shattered off its hinges and shot down the hallway a few feet, before catching on the carpet and dropping to the floor with a loud bang.

"Lucy! I'm home!"

Contra grabbed the two guys with machine guns by the backs of their shirts, hefting them up and slamming them into one another. He threw them across the room at the one-way mirror, the glass breaking slightly, but not shattering. He slammed his fist right through the glass, ripping the entire thing from the wall, throwing it behind him.

"Axl, get out of the box." Contra had his left hand to his ear.

"About damn time, Contra!" Came the response, "Oh shut the hell up and get out of the box."

He leapt up onto the window sill, grinning down at the group of men on the other side of the window. He tilted his head to the side before pushing his fists together, each knuckle cracking all at once. He stepped down into the room, towering over all the men in suits.

"Fucking with the Kitetsu is not a good idea."

Axl formed his right hand into a buster and unleashed a blast into the top of the box. He twisted around and set his back to the box's base, thrusting his legs upward sharply. The covering of the box shot right up into the air and clattered to the floor. He leapt from the box, his buster aimed in front of him. He slowly turned his head, glancing around the room.

"Dammit, I get stuck with the 'Room of No Action.'"

He clambered over the box's edge and moved toward the door. He cracked it open and looked out into the hallway in time to see a door slam into the floor. He whipped the door open and laughed as he heard X2 call out.

"X2! This way!"

X2 rounded the corner and dashed toward Axl's direction. About halfway there, something slammed right into X2's face, sending him right into the wall, the wall shuddering from the force. Axl ran forward, firing his buster off rapidly in the direction of the door.

"Who the hell are you guys! We didn't do anything wrong here!"

Smoke landed lightly on the roof of the building that the other three were in. Jakku landed beside him seconds after. They looked at each other for a moment before Jakku leapt through the sky light, dropping quickly to the floor. He turned in time for a fist to connect to his jaw, sending him sliding toward the door.

"Ow.. Oh hell no you didn't!"

Smoke dropped down on top of the man's shoulders, whipping his entire body around quickly. The man's neck and shoulders twisted inhumanly, a loud snap resonating from the man's spine. The body slumped to the floor as Smoke leapt off, landing next to Jakku.

"For a ninja, you sure do suck at sneaking around, Jakku." Jakku scowled.

"Where do you think the others are?" Smoke shrugged, "They have to be around here somewhere."

Smoke headed out the door, turning to the right. Jakku followed him out the door and turned left. Smoke nodded and they both headed in opposite directions.

Ramzal's chaser was getting battered by energy blasts. He grit his teeth angrily, deflecting as many of the tiny annoyances with his saber as he could, but there were so many, he wasn't doing a very efficient job. He pushed the throttle all the way forward, the chaser bucking forward, the thrusters growing slightly.

"Come on, dammit.."

He jerked the controls, taking a left turn sharply, the bike tilting low toward the ground. He slipped out of the turn and shot off down the road, the Joe's quickly following. He glanced down at the monitor below the controls, watching the chaser's speed begin to drop. He swore loudly, grabbing the throttle and pushing it down, rapidly reducing his speed. He leapt from the bike, kicking it forward. One of the Joe's slammed into it, exploding both chasers and himself on contact. Ramzal landed, spinning the saber around in front of him, deflecting the blasts sent his way.

"I have no idea where I am, or where the Bullet Train is!"

He turned and ran off down a random alley-way. He glanced behind him, watching the chasers zip past and head back down the road. He knew they were going to head around and try to cut him off. He dug the saber into the wall and climbed up, leaping up on to the rooftops. He withdrew the saber, deactivating it, and slipped it back into his pocket. He gazed around for a moment, before seeing the station for the Bullet Train.

"There you are.."

He leapt across the alley, landing on the next building. He took off at a quick ran, leaping from rooftop to rooftop for a few minutes. The sounds of ride chasers became distant and lost after awhile. He sighed softly, grinning to himself.

'_Never thought I'd be using the rooftops as an escape route.. To the Bullet Train!'_

Ran stopped in front of a large computer, smiling broadly. He stepped up to the console and tapped a series of unique key presses. The computer hummed to life for a moment, before the screen flashed on. Words in Russian scrolled down the screen, displaying the date, lab status, and things of the like. The actual OS booted up, leaving Ran to do his bidding.

"What was the grid program.. Umm.. Oh, right."

He typed in the words '_Mother Russia_,' followed by '_Father Cossack_,' and ended it with '_Booyaka_.' The computer sputtered for a moment as it loaded the program. The screen changed to that of a grid map of the world. He typed in a quick series of numbers and letters and then the red light at the top of the grid switched to green almost immediately. He smiled and ended the grid program.

"Alright. Now, the regeneration pod. I don't even know why I'm turning this on.."

He typed in the words '_Kalinka_' and '_Science Project_.' The screen changed to that of a status report on Ran himself. He clicked through the pages before coming to the specifics of the regeneration pod his mother built for him. He clicked on '_Activate_' and heard a soft humming issue from the computer. He put the computer on stand-by and left the room. Goldenwing, Arabelle, Cronos, and Isis were all still standing where they were when he left, but he walked on by. He turned into a room a few doors down and stepped inside. More than half the room was filled with miscellaneous Russian products that were torn to pieces, the tiny part not filled with junk was where the pod sat. He walked over to it and checked up on it, making sure it was working.

"Alright, time for a test run!"

He turned and ran straight at the wall. His body crashed into it, going limp and slamming backward into the floor. The pod whirred violently, before Ran re-appeared within the glass section at the other end. He leapt out and grinned. The door opened suddenly, revealing Cronos and Goldenwing.

"What the hell did you.. Just.. Do.." Cronos' eyes moved from Ran to the dead Ran body on the floor.

"Oh."

"Booyaka Cronos! Booyaka Goldenwing! It works!" Ran grinned broadly, trudging out of the room.

Cronos sighed and Goldenwing smacked himself in the forehead, before they both followed the small bot from the room, who was grinning beside himself with Russian pride.

Ramzal ran up the ramp to the train. The guard wasn't looking so he just leapt right over the payment center, bolting into the train before the man at the station could stop him. He slid to a stop and slumped down into a random seat, staring at the floor. Sweat trickled down his face as he breathed heavily. He glanced up slightly, watching the man at the ticket booth and the guard come running toward the train, just as the door shut. He smirked slightly, chuckling.

"Next stop; Neo Tokyo." The train's driver announced over the PA system.

Contra held one of the suits up high, his fingers gripping tightly on to the man's shirt and tie, a growl escaping his throat as Smoke came busting through the door. The rest of the guys in suits rushed him, knocking him out of the way.

"Whoa! Hey! Keep that for the second date!" Smoke got to his feet, dusting himself off, "Hi Contra. This the VIP?"

"Yes, yes he is." He tightened his grip, forcing the man to choke.

"Don't kill him. Well, don't kill him yet anyway." Contra scowled, setting the man down, "Let's go find the others."

Jakku's blade tore through a man with a machine gun, slicing the gun into multiple pieces. He stopped on the other side of the man, who crumpled into pieces, blood pooling underneath him.

"X2! Axl! Where are you two!"

Axl came flying out from a door right at the moment, his back cracking sharply against a wall, a scream of pain escaping his lips. X2 followed, sliding across the ground, stopping a foot in front of Axl, his body crouched low.

"Right here, Mafuyu.."

A large man stepped through the doorway, his arms covered in large metal plates, half of his face covered in metal as well. Jakku held his blade steady, before rushing, leaping upward, the blade slicing easily through his exposed flesh. Despite his size, the man was around and gripping Jakku's throat.

"Erk.." Jakku stabbed the blade into the man's hand as quick and as hard as he could, his face slowly changing to blue.

"Drop him!" X2 leapt up, cracking his large metal boot into the fleshy side of the man's head, blood exploding on impact.

Jakku fell to the floor, as did X2. The man stumbled slightly, before moving around and slamming X2 right into the wall, the man's hand grinding X2's head into the concrete. Axl aimed carefully, firing a charged shot right into the man's back. He turned and stepped toward Axl, who scrambled backward across the floor, his buster charging again.

Jakku croaked, "Sm..oke.." into the communication link before passing out.

"Jakku? Shit!"

Contra and Smoke headed out of the room, making multiple turns before seeing Axl flying straight into a large metal door, his body bending the thick metal in inhuman ways. He slumped to the floor, blood trickling from his mouth and nose.

"Guh.. Ugh.."

Contra tossed the man in the suit to the side, walking past Axl's defeated body. Smoke knelt beside Axl, glancing slightly and sees Contra's fist slam right through the other man's metal shoulder, ripping the entire thing from his form, blood splattering across the walls. A howl of pain escaped the man's large mouth, before Contra rammed the metal arm right into his face. He threw the man down the hallway, walking past both the passed out Jakku and the battered body of X2.

"You okay Axl?"

"Ugh.. Ow.." Axl nodded slightly, pushing himself to his feet, staggering a little.

Smoke smirked slightly, walking over to X2. He helped the Reploid to his feet, and then got shook off. X2 grit his teeth, half his face torn off, revealing the wiring underneath it. He ran off after Contra, seemingly determined to kill the man that had defeated him. Axl came up behind Smoke, dragging the suit by the back of the collar. Smoke hefted Jakku up on to his shoulder, heading off down the hallway after Contra and X2.

The train slowed to a stop, jerking Ramzal awake after a few seconds of bored sleep. He tilted his head up and looked at the clock. It had only taken them ten minutes to get from Fukuoka to Neo Tokyo.

"Ah, modern technology.."

He stepped off the train and made his way toward the departure booth. The man was checking tickets. Ramzal rushed past and leapt over the railing, bolting straight out of the building. He turned right outside of the building and just ran. After a few blocks, he came to a stop, breathing heavily. He looked up to see a group of police cars hover past at extreme speeds.

'_Kitetsu is a terrorist group, isn't it? So.. Might as well, what have I got to lose?'_

Ramzal turned and followed the cop cars, their sirens easily trackable. After a few blocks and more turns than Ramzal could remember, he found where the police were all headed. A block of identical buildings, and they had stopped right in front of one. A door-less one, that looked like the door had been removed with excessive force. Ramzal stood there for a moment before gasping as a very large man slammed through the front of the building, tearing off parts of the wall. He flew through the air and slammed into one of the hover cars. His body slammed the entire front end of the vehicle into the road, destroying the car completely.

'_Well, holy shit..'_

Contra stood breathing evenly, with X2 at his side breathing a little heavier. The two turned back around as the police opened fire on the buildings front. The bullets deflected off of X2's metal armor and Contra's tough skin-suit. They walked back to where Axl and Smoke were waiting with Jakku's body and the suit. Contra took the unconscious Kitetsu member from Smoke and shouldered him. The four members and the suit exited out the back of the building, just as the cops came rushing in the front.

"Contra, head back to the base with Jakku. Axl, you go with him. X2, you and me are going to take the suit to somewhere quiet."

Contra set his hand on Jakku's back as Axl grabbed his elbow. Contra reached his free hand up into the air and then slammed it into the ground, an explosion wrapping around the three Kitetsu members. As the smoke cleared, they were gone and the ground was undamaged. X2 tossed the suit over his shoulder and followed after Smoke.

"Hey! Are you Frostheart!"

The two both turned at once, watching a silver-haired man come running toward them. He stopped in front of them, breathing a little unevenly, his hand pressed into his right side, a slightly pained expression on his face.

"Yea, I'm Smoke. What do you want?"

"Ran sent me here, I don't know why. He just told me to find Frostheart and the Kitetsu."

"... Fine, follow us, kid."

"Oh, the name's Ramzal."

"Whatever, kid, just follow."

Ramzal frowned, but obediently followed after the Reploid and the overbearing man with black streaks on his face. The man slumped over X2's shoulder seemed to be pleading with Ramzal for help in silence, but he ignored the man, his finger picking at the saber hilt in his pocket.

'_Frostheart seems like a prick, I hope Ran didn't send me to the wrong people..'_

"Nice to meet all of you, but I'm tired! I'll see you all in the morning, good night! Goldenwing, we can talk in the morning, okay?"

"Uh, alright."

Ran smiled widely as he walked past them and headed toward the stair case on the right side of the main entry hall. He made his way upstairs and went into the first door, which opened at his touch. Cronos stopped beside Arabelle, whispering something that Goldenwing and Isis couldn't hear, which caused Arabelle to giggle.

"Oh god.." Goldenwing sweat-dropped.

"Come off it, Goldenwing, it's perfectly normal!" Arabelle smiled at her alternate and followed Cronos into their shared room.

Goldenwing face palmed and then glanced at Isis, who stared at him for a moment, before shaking her head and walking away from him. Cronos and Arabelle's door clicked closed, but not before Arabelle let out a soft giggle and a playful scream. Isis's door clicked closed without a peep from her. Goldenwing stood there for a moment, staring at the floor.

"What the hell is wrong with the world when your friend is doing your other self?" He let out an involuntary shudder, heading toward his room.

A lone figure sat in a rather large chair, shaped like a skull in the shape of a throne. Across the room was a large projector screen, where the news was playing over and over, about how the attacks were ending and the world was returning. A wild grin split the figure's lips, an angry glint appearing in his eyes.

"The world has no idea what's happening, Bloodbath.."

He reached his hand out and scratched the head of a large metal cat. The cat purred mechanically, tilting its head to get the scratching behind his ears. The figure got to his feet, clicking off the projector screen. As the screen went off, the lights in the room clicked on. The figure was a rather tall man, with ebony black armor, with golden guards around his ankles, wrists, shoulder edges, and around his mid-section. The golden guard in his mid-section wrapped around a shimmering, dark green gem. The cat stalked around between his legs, the greyish green metal reflecting slightly, with golden guards around the ankle of each paw, around the tops of his hind legs, the tip of his tail, and two parts jutting up from its shoulders.

"Calm yourself, Bloodbath.."

A door across the room slid open and a women walked into the room. She had soft, silver hair. Her body was wrapped in a dark grey rubber suit, with golden armor. Her knees and wrists had red gems, with blue guards around the ankles, wrists, as well as the shoulders being blue. She stopped just inside the doorway, with the man's gaze upon her.

"Yes, Cazzle?"

"I heard the projector go off, so I decided it best to come and see if you needed anything."

"Cazzle, my dear, you're not my slave. You don't have to do anything for me."

"It doesn't matter, I'm here now. Is there anything you wish?"

"Not really.. Everything is going according to plan, really."

"But what about Sebastian, is he following your orders?" He chuckled lightly, "As good as a human can."

"Do you believe Azazel can accomplish the task that you wish of him?"

"He'll do it even if I do not tell him so. If given the chance, he shall be taken care of. And besides, Altor will not let the truth escape our Prince. Once they meet, of course."

"So you've thought of everything then, Monarch?"

"Of course.. I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't in complete control.. Oh, tell Rose and Christy that we have a job to do later." Cazzle smiled and nodded, "Of course, Monarch."


End file.
